Take Me With You
by Just-Plain-Roo
Summary: You said before that if I had to go then I should take you with me. I'm leaving, the question is, are you coming with me?” FutureFic. AU. C/B
1. Chapter 1

"You said before, that if I had to leave then I should take you with me."

Chuck's dark figure emerged from the shadows. His face, Blair could see clearly, was pale, and taught with suppressed emotion. His eyes were hooded and glazed, a look not unfamiliar to the only Bass heir, but this time, she knew, it was not the work of any narcotic or illegal substance that provided the air of confusion and confliction. He eyed her silently, awaiting her reaction.

But Blair was past all reasonable thought. Emotions surged through her; anger, sadness, happiness, worry, elation – "Chuck," She breathed.

His name was a more then adequate way to deliver any and all of the things she wanted to say. She longed to throw her arms around him. To rush over to him and comfort him as she had so many weeks before. She could almost feel the soft, feather-like strands of his hair as she ran her fingers through it, she could just about see the look of devastation on his face, taste the salty tang of his tears on her lips, listen as his heart slowed and he fell into an uneasy slumber...

But something held her back.

Perhaps it was the harsh recollection of the morning after, waking up to find that he was long gone, a hastily scribbled note the sole souvenir that prove that he had indeed been there, that she had not imagined it.

Perhaps it was the way he stood there, tie slung over his neck haphazardly, shoulders slouched, suit rumpled, hair in disarray... He had rarely looked as vulnerable to her as he did now, but yet he was strong at the same time. His stance was controlled and steady, so unlike the broken man that she had witnessed just weeks prior. He kept his distance, lurking in the shadows of the dimly lit bedroom, his eyes seemed to ask for her to stay where she was, to not move a muscle lest he break down again.

Either way, she knew that comfort was not the way to go. Anyone could give comfort, but Blair knew that Chuck needed so much more then false placates and soothing whispers.

"What are you doing here?" Blair asked quietly, her eyes never straying from his. "Everyone's out looking for you, Lily's just about ready to call the police."

"I wanted to see you."

She opened her mouth as if to speak, but quickly snapped it shut again. Part of her yearned to ask _why_, to see if she could finally get the answers that had eluded her for so long. But again she didn't. She was determined to do things differently this time. And if that meant that she had to leave the hard questions until later, then she would do her best to try and learn the virtue that had long escaped her; patience.

She nodded in lieu of a response.

"Eric, Serena, Lily..." Chuck looked away from her for the first time. "They don't understand. They mean well, but they don't know what I'm going through. They just don't... _get it_."

"And I do?" The words escape her mouth before she can stop them.

His eyes dart back to hers once more. "No. But you do get _me_."

He was acknowledging that she knew him just as he knew her, better even, because she had seen him lose control, but he hadn't truly witnessed her demons first hand.

So she nodded again. Facts. That's what he was stating. They could deal with facts, it was the emotions that they had trouble with.

"You should call. Let them know you're okay. Nate and Eric are still searching. Jack too."

He flinched, and she didn't know if it was the name of his no-good-scheming-uncle that had resulted in the breach of his cool veneer, or if it was the name of her current boyfriend, his supposed best friend, that had warranted it. Again she didn't ask.

"You said before that if I had to go then I should take you with me." Chuck repeated calmly, ignoring her previous remark. "I'm going, the question is, are you coming with me?"

All of the air rushed out of Blair's lungs as she looked at him with wide eyed disbelief. She didn't know whether to be shocked or scared. Was this what she had been waiting for all this time? Was Chuck finally letting her in?

"What – what do you mean?" She asked quickly.

"I can't stay here anymore Blair." He said quietly. "This place, New York, it's bad for me. It makes me want to do things that I don't want to do, say things that I don't want to say. I need to get out."

"But... you're Chuck. You belong here." She said dumbly. "It's your home."

He let out a chuckle, a cold, hard, laugh that made her body shiver. "This isn't my home Blair. It hasn't been for a long time now."

"You have family here."

"Not by blood." His face darkens for a moment as he remembers his uncle, but he ploughs on. "Face it Blair, I've severed all of my ties here. Almost." He corrects. "I've severed almost all of my ties here. All but one."

She doesn't need to look at him to know who he means. "What about Eric? If you leave, then this will crush him."

Chuck stares at the ground. "He has Serena." He said finally. "It will hurt for a while, but he'll get through it. He's tough. Resilient."

"Serena then. Who's going to get her out of scrapes if you're not around? Who's going to look out for her?" Blair folds her arms across her chest. She doesn't know why she's throwing all these names at him, but she knows that she feels some sadistic pleasure in watching his face harden and furrow at the thought of all the people he'll be leaving behind. "I can deal with the minor things sure, but we both know that I don't have the resources or the power to make things disappear at the bat of an eyelid."

"Serena has Dan now, he knows how to keep her out of trouble. And she's grown up a lot in the past year. She thinks before she acts. Most of the time. She'll be all right."

"Lily."

"She has Rufus now. And she's a lot stronger then anyone gives her credit for."

Blair sighs, "What about Nate? He's your best friend. What's he going to think about your doing a disappearing act without any warning?"

Chuck smirks, it's hollow and humorless, but it's there. "He's Nate. He'll be more concerned about where his next supply of weed is coming from then in losing his 'friend'."

"That's not true and you know it. He loves you." Blair said sharply. "They all do. You can't just up and leave. And what will you do on your own, huh? Hit up more opium dens in Bangkok? Piss away what's left of your trust fund in some Vegas strip joint?"

"No." He's beginning to get annoyed, "It won't be like _that_. And I won't be on my own. You'll be with me."

This time Blair laughed and it was as humorless as his smirk. "You're asking me or telling me? Because I haven't agreed to anything yet, Bass. You may be finished with New York but I'm not."

"What's left for you here Waldorf?" He resorts to using surnames just as easily as she does. "Yale? You didn't get in, remember."

Blair scowls at the memory of her lost dream. "There's more to my life then just Yale."

"Name one thing that's keeping you here." He challenges.

"Name one thing that will motivate me to leave." She counters.

He's never once told her that he loves her. Never made it seem like they could be more then what they are. And she needs more then that.

Eyes are still locked together. Brown meet brown in a clash of anger and defiance. Old memories surge through both of their heads. Recollections of fights, of dalliances in gardens, of picking the forbidden fruit, of lying, cheating, manipulation, ecstasy, rage, love and heartache. It's all there, and it flashes through their minds as they stand in silence. The bad memories outnumber the good by far.

They are Romeo and Juliet born again, except that this time it isn't their families keeping them apart. It's fate itself.

Fate allows them lingering glances, hands brushing, eyes straying. It allows yearning, secrecy and passion... But it always puts a halt to their relationship progressing. Something always happens, and then things are set into motion. It's like a chain of events, each catastrophe happening one by one by one: Cotillions, Baby Scandals, Gossip Girl, Weddings, Helipads, The Hamptons, British Lords, I Love You's, Chases, Seductions, Games, Funerals and Rooftops.

It's a mess. It's painful, and raw, and life affirming. But it's _theirs_. Chuck's and Blair's. Blair's and Chuck's.

Inevitable, Chuck had once called them. Something that's definitely going to happen. Something that can't be avoided or prevented.

She whispers it now, quietly, almost to herself. But he hears. Like always.

"That's one reason." He tells her. "Rack your brains Waldorf, there's more."

So she does.

_Define like_

–

_You don't belong with Nate. Never have. Never will_

–

_I was scared that if we spent the whole summer together then you'd see..._

–

_Tomorrow's another day_

–

_I'll just imagine she's you_

–

_For You? Anytime_

–

_I wouldn't change us. Not if it meant losing what we have_

It's then that she realizes. He's never said the words 'I love you', but he's shown her that he does on countless occasions. He holds her when she's sad, he comforts her the way no one else can, not even her father or Serena, and he knows her better then anyone else.

She softens, briefly, but then more memories surge forward. Ones in which he goes against the previous soft caresses and caring words.

"I don't know Chuck. You say one thing and do the other." She's tired. So, so tired. All she wants to do is go to sleep and wake up five years ago when everything was so simple. When they were just the Non-Judging-Breakfast-Club. "If I went with you, how do I know that it wont be the same as it has been the past few months? How it's been for all of our screwed up... _relationship_."

"It won't be." Chuck promised, he moved in closer to the her until the moonlight from the window cast an eerie silhouette around his head and body.

Blair shivered again.

Chuck watched her closely, "Someone's walking over your grave."

"What?" Blair frowned in confusion.

"I used to have this nanny when I was small," Chuck sat down on the bed and smiled faintly. "Margarete, that's what she used to say whenever anyone shivered. Someone's walking over your grave." He shrugged. "I never really understood it."

Blair sighed and slowly eased herself down onto the bed beside him. "What are we doing Chuck?"

"Moving on?" Chuck ventured, "Growing up? Hopefully leaving the country in the next few hours?" He said it lightly but she could hear a tinge of annoyance and nervousness in his tone.

Blair glared at him. "I'm serious. You can't just turn up at my door and expect me to run away with you. I mean, I do have a boyfriend –"

Chuck scoffed, "Nathaniel is not your boyfriend. He's just a comforting reminder of your past." He snarled at her reprovingly. "Most girls would hunt down an old stuffed animal, but no, you have to go for the brainless ex."

" – and you have... _Vanessa_." Her mouth curled up in distaste as she said the name.

"Dearest Vanessa will be euphoric if she hears that I've left and that you're with me. Then she only has to fight off Little Jenny Humphrey and Penelope until she can claim her prize as a future Archibald wife."

Jealousy sparked in her as she glowered at him, and she knew that it wasn't the idea of Vanessa marrying Nate that caused it. "Dearest?" She asked sharply. "If she's so _dear_ to you then why are you here instead of the slums of Brooklyn."

Chuck looked weary as he gave her another pointed glance. "Waldorf can we not do the whole jealousy thing tonight? I really don't have the patience to listen to you blabbering on about how happy you are with Nate and how much you love him. Quite frankly it's boring, and while jealousy does suit you, repetitiveness does not. Also I've just about exhausted my arsenal of complements for Vanessa. She's hot, sure, but there's no fire. No passion. Which, if you think about it, is rather obsolete for a relationship fueled entirely on anger and resentment."

Blair nodded mutely as he continued. The time for idle games has past. And if she's honest, that's all her relationship with Nate was. A game. Even if she didn't realize it until just recently.

"You don't love Nathaniel, you love the _idea_ of Nathaniel. And we both know that I don't feel anything for Vanessa so let's just drop that whole argument and move on to your next reason for not coming with me."

"My mother, Cyrus, Daddy... _Dorota_." She listed. "They'll never let me disappear with you for weeks on end. Especially now they've started worrying about my future."

"I'm not exactly talking about weeks Waldorf," Chuck said quietly.

Blair's eyes widened. "Months?" She asked anxiously.

He shook his head.

Blair gulped, "Years?"

He doesn't say anything but she knows him well enough to take his silence as an answer.

She puts her head in her hands and shakes her head rapidly. "No Chuck, you can not do this. No!"

"When I leave tonight," Chuck said calmly, "I won't ever be coming back."

She looked at him, tears brimming in her eyes, "This is my choice? You, or everyone and everything else that I care about?"

He looked away. "I'm sorry."

Blair let out a shaky laugh. "My life, or Chuck Bass. You're really going to make me choose?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry." He repeated, getting to his feet and taking a small white envelope out from his jacket pocket and placing it on the bed. "If you do decide to come with me, my plane leaves at 3:30am. Gate 3. JFK. Meet me there." He left without another word.

Blair watched him go as her body wracked with silent sobs and as her brain went a mile a minute. She had to make the hardest decision that she had ever had to make, and he had given her less then three hours in which to do it in. This thought made her cry harder.

After a few minutes she tried to calm herself down enough to think rationally. She had an ultimatum, the boy who knew her better then anyone, or the family that she was just getting close to. It was a test question, multiple choice.

Option B had security, safety. It held all of her hopes and dreams of the future, she hadn't gotten into Yale, but she had just been accepted into NYU. Nate was in the city, and Serena would only be a few hours drive away come Fall. Her Mom and Cyrus would be on hand if she ever needed help, and Dorota, her beloved second mother, was always by her side. But no Chuck.

Option A was the wild card, it was reckless, and dangerous, and risky... Anything could happen to her. Flying from place to place, never stopping long enough to set down roots, constantly wondering where life would bring her next... That wasn't Blair Waldorf, was it? Sure, she'd have Chuck. Maybe. But he wasn't exactly the most stable person in the world, and who was to say that he wouldn't just break her heart again?

Really, she reasoned to herself, the whole idea was preposterous. It didn't even warrant thinking about. Chuck was being overly-dramatic as usual. He wouldn't leave. He couldn't. Could he?

She let out a deep sigh before hitting her head against the wall of the room, closing her eyes as she did so. She needed to think.

Some time later, she got to her feet and looked around at the familiar comforting reminders of her past. The blue-gray walls, the portrait of the Victorian lady, the notice board with all of her photos and keepsakes on it. Her half-open drawer that housed the headbands that she loved so much. Her DVD collection. Her bed. She had laughed, cried, and loved in this room.

And she knew what she had to do.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Chuck stood alone at the front gates of the vast airport. Very little people were there at this hour, some businessmen, some younger men and women excited about traveling for the first time... But no Blair.

He looked at his watch frustratedly. She had less then ten minutes to arrive before the plane had to be boarded.

A few minutes later he let out a sigh of anguish before picking up his carry-on luggage and turning to enter through the gate. He was just handing in his boarding pass when he heard a voice behind him.

"Chuck."

He spun around and locked eyes with her. Her eyes were red rimmed and she was sniffling, but she carried a small red handbag with her. Wordlessly she too handed her boarding pass to the clerk.

"I didn't think you were coming," He choked out. "I was about to give up."

"Bass' don't give up." Blair said briskly. "And neither do Waldorf's." She took a deep breath. "I had to make a stop first."

His eyes softened as he attempted to brush a stray tendril of hair from off her face. She flinched away.

"Don't." She said harshly, glaring at him through her now tear filled eyes. "Just.... don't."

He nodded slowly, before turning to face the gate again. He walked through it with Blair at his side. They could do this, he told himself. They at least had to try.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

**_Earlier That Night..._**

"Blair!" Serena called, rushing to embrace her friend."There you are, I've been calling all night. Nate and Eric haven't found him yet but they're still looking. Dan's with them now."

Blair stifled a sob as she held Serena close.

Serena frowned and pulled back slightly, "B? What's wrong? Is it Chuck? Are you worried about him?"

Blair shook her head, unable to meet Serena's eye.

"Then what is it?"

"I couldn't..." Blair tried, "I needed to say--"

"Say what?" Serena asked probingly. "Blair you can tell me anything, you know that."

"Goodbye." Blair choked finally, clutching at Serena's hands tightly.

Serena's eyes widened. "Blair, what's going on? Why are you saying goodbye? I'm not going anywhere."

Blair just shook her head frantically, brushing back her tears with the back of her hand.

"You're scaring me, B." Serena said fearfully. "Tell me what's happened! I can fix it."

"No." Blair said, regaining her voice. "You can't. Not this time." She smiled wanly at her best friend.

When she spoke next it was almost to herself. "I had a choice, you see? It was either him or my life here. And," She swallowed thickly. "I've tried living without him before. It – it didn't work. I was always thinking about him, and wondering if he was okay – I can't do it again, do you understand that? It's just too hard. I'm strong, S, but it's all just too much."

"What are you saying Blair?" Serena asked quietly. She scanned Blair's face anxiously. "You've seen Chuck tonight haven't you? You know where he is."

Blair buried her face in the taller blonde's shoulder. Her voice was muffled against the linen of Serena's shirt. "Tell Nate that I'm sorry, and that he'll always be my first love and one of my closest friends. And tell my Mom that I love her and that I'm safe."

"Blair!"

She gave her friend one last tight squeeze before pulling away and hurrying towards the door, wiping away a fresh set of tears.

Serena stared blankly at her back. "I'll stall them." She said suddenly.

Blair turned around. "What?"

"When they realize that you're missing too, it won't take them long to figure out what's happened. I'll stall them."

Blair sniffled as she met her best-friends eyes, "I love you S."

Serena smiled faintly as tears ran silently down her face. "Love you too B. Always."

________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N - So you may have noticed my penname has changed... among other things. I have a note up on my profile about the other things, and I'm feeling pretty great about those, even though it will take a bit of hard work to keep it up. **

**Anyway, R&R on this, I really would appreciate feedback no matter how big or how small. If you're confused by this, don't worry things will make themselves clearer as time goes on. The next chapter will be set in the future, as will the majority of these, but there will be flashbacks telling Blair and Chuck's story in between as well.**

**Please do check out the note on my profile, and feel free to PM me at any time if you have any questions on my stories or anything really.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Blair hissed furiously as she pounded on the door of the bathroom – her own private bathroom, no less – and yelled at the occupant to get out. She was going to murder that Mother-Chucking Basstard with her own two hands. As she waited for her bathroom to be free, she dreamed up the methods and the means that she would use to do it. Dismemberment had it's strong points, as did burying him six feet under – while he was still alive. Arson was a possibility, though she dreaded the thought of being labeled a pyromaniac. Much too common. Then again there was always castration... Blair's musing were cut short by the door opening and a six foot tall, blonde, tooth-pick thin model strutted out, wrapping her towel further around her bust when it appeared she was not going to get a round two with 'Mr. Bass'.

Castration, Blair decided as she gave the giraffe her best death glare, was definitely the way to go. But first she had to pee.

The blonde let out a huff of indignation as Blair shoved her way past her, stopping only to shriek at the mess that she had made of the marble worktops and the smudges on the antique mirror. Towels and other various items of clothing were draped over every available surface, there was a cracked bottle of Chanel No. 5 leaking onto the tiled floor, and to top it all off – her brand new D&G dress that she had planned on wearing to work that day was crumpled in the corner. There's no way she'd be able to get the wrinkles out of that quality of silk. Oh, Chuck was going to pay alright.

She finished up in her bathroom as quickly as possible, taking care to touch the least amount of surfaces until she got someone to disinfect it for her, and walked into the kitchen to find Chuck leaning against the countertop unconcernedly.

"Good morning Waldorf," he greeted, taking a bit of croissant.

She grunted in return, She stalked past him and straight for the coffee machine which he had yet again neglected to turn on. Biting her bottom lip so as not to scream, she quickly gathered her coat and handbag and made for the door without a word to Chuck.

"Blair where are you going at this hour?" His amused voice called to her.

"Breakfast," Blair barked back over her shoulder. "Then I'm going to buy a newspaper, and look for a new apartment. Preferably on the other side of town." She slammed the door in his face leaving him blinking in rare confusion until he looked at the calender and his face set. He grabbed his coat and followed her out.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Blair let out a sigh of contentment as she took the first sip of her caramel latte some minutes later. Feeling the caffeine enter her body and revive her senses, she began to feel a little guilty about her actions toward Chuck that morning. It wasn't his fault he was attracted to messy, disgustingly skinny, sluts. Really, she should pity him on his poor taste. A small smile graced her features at this thought, but fell when she saw Chuck making her way over to her table. He didn't look particularly happy either.

"You have your appointment today don't you?" He asked quietly. "What time? I'll clear my schedule."

She rolled her eyes and glowered at him. Her bi-annual check up was the least thing she wanted to talk about. When it appeared he wasn't going to back down however, she finally set down her coffee and answered him. "Twelve-thirty. And you don't have to come with me, I'm perfectly capable of – "

"I'm coming." Chuck cut in firmly.

Her eyes met with his defiantly, but the concern in his abated any of her annoyance.

"Why didn't you remind me?" He asked a few minutes later as she finished off the last of her drink.

She shrugged and waved for the bill, "You've been busy. It's not really that big of a deal. It's just a routine check-up."

His eyes flashed. "I'll decide what I think is important Waldorf. You should have told me."

"Like I said," Blair ground out, losing patience."You've been busy."

Chuck glared at her and when the waitress came to take away her cup he directed her attention towards him. "A muffin. Large. To go."

"Blueberry, Oatmeal and Raisin, or Chocolate Chip?"

"Blueberry." Chuck told her, handing her a fifty dollar bill and telling her to keep the change.

"You hate blueberries." Blair remarked as the waitress packed up his order.

"It's not for me." He told her shortly. "You haven't eaten this morning. You need to keep your strength up."

Blair opened her mouth to complain but a pointed glance from him shut her up. She grudgingly accepted the snack and followed him out the door and into their awaiting limo, trying her hardest not to think about the looming appointment that was in her near future.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Blair!"

Blair turned with a smug smile on her face to see Mr. Wright beckoning her over. She assumed that he was going to congratulate her on the major account that she had just scored. Of course Chuck was going to be furious when he realized that it was _she_ who had rescheduled her appointment and not Dr. Mathews, but he'd get over it.

"Yes Sir?" She asked politely, shuffling her briefcase in her hands.

"My office. Ten minutes." He said brusquely, handing some files to his secretary. "And tell that boyfriend of yours to join you."

"He's not my--" Blair started exasperatedly, but a warning look from the secretary cut her off. "Sure." She smiled instead. "I'll get right on that."

He nodded curtly before storming off.

"What's his deal?" Blair called over her shoulder grumpily, as she walked into her office and laid her leather case on her desk, grabbing an apple before coming over to lean on Marsha's desk. She raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"His wife called," Marsha confided in a hushed tone. "She's threatening to leave him if he doesn't spend more time with her."

Blair rolled her eyes, "Again? She's been using that line ever since they got married."

Marsha shook her head urgently. "I think she's might actually be serious this time." She leaned in closer. "I think there's another guy."

"Really?" Blair's eyes widened fractionally, "I never would've thought she had it in her."

"Obviously neither did Mr. Wright." Marsha giggled. "But you're missing the point here B. He's worried, if his wife leaves him she takes half of his money. I think he might actually consider stepping down."

Blair's jaw dropped, "Seriously?"

"And he asked to see you in his office." She clapped her hands excitedly.

Blair shook her head, "No. He's not – I mean, he might." A small smile graced her features, "Could he?"

Marsha nodded emphatically.

"But he asked to see Chuck too," Blair pointed out. "He and I are the same rank in the company. It could be him Wright chooses to take over."

Marsha's face fell slightly, "Oh, I didn't think of that."

"Then again I do have a higher record of deals then Chuck does," Blair mused. "And my attendance record is flawless."

"This is the thanks I get for getting you your precious caffeine fix?" Chuck's amused voice came from behind them causing both girls to jump. "I come back to find the two of you plotting my downfall?"

Marsha looked abashed and looked down at her lap demurely. "Sorry Mr. Bass."

Blair scoffed, "Don't apologize to him," She scolded, glaring playfully at Chuck. "He's the competition!"

"He could also be my future boss!" Marsha hissed.

Chuck smirked and handed Blair her coffee as she chastised her friend.

"I know someone who's not getting a raise when I get elected." Blair finished huffily.

"_If_ you get elected." Chuck corrected. "I hear it from a very reliable source that I'm the front runner."

"What reliable source?" Blair demanded. "And we don't even know if he's stepping down yet. The whole thing could just be a rumor."

"It's not." Chuck assured her. "I got it straight from the horse's mouth."

"What horse!" Marsha asked eagerly. "Not that it's any of my business..." she added quickly as Chuck raised an eyebrow.

Blair narrowed her eyes suspiciously. He winked at her and her face was the picture of dawning comprehension. "You're the one that made Mr. Wright's wife so flighty! You're the other guy!"

Marsha gasped and her hands flew up to her mouth. "But she's like... ancient!" She blurted out.

"I'll have you know that Veronica is the picture of health." Chuck told them.

"You slept with our boss' wife!" Blair spat furiously. "What the hell were you thinking! He'll fire us both if she tells him."

Chuck snorted. "Give me some credit Waldorf, _I_ didn't sleep with her. I paid someone to do it for me."

Marsha was speechless but a knowing smile spread on Blair's face.

"Basshole." She muttered half-heartedly.

Marsha looked at her watch anxiously. "Either way, you guys should probably go in. He said ten minutes and it's almost that now."

Exchanging one last look, Blair and Chuck both scrambled to their respective offices and pulled out the supplies each held. Blair brushed and tamed her curls and Chuck ran a comb through his. Both checked for facial blemishes or teeth imperfections, but upon finding nothing they exited their offices and made towards Mr. Wright's in perfect synchronization. Blair knocked politely and Chuck opened the door for her.

"You're going down B," He whispered in her ear as she passed in front of him.

"In your dreams C." She trilled through clenched teeth as she smiled brightly at her boss and took the offered seat. Chuck soon joined her, taking the seat on her left so that they were both directly in front of Mr. Wright.

"You asked to see us?" Blair asked innocently.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Four Years Ago...**_

_"You asked to see us Mr. Wright?" Blair smiled confidently as she sat in front of the CEO of Shina Ltd._

_Alexander Wright studied the pair in front of him thoughtfully. He ignored her question and, glancing back down at his notes, posed one of his own. "It says here that both of you graduated with honors from UC Berkeley the summer of 2013. You have not sought any further employment up until this point?"_

_He watched as the girl flinched almost imperceptibly and the boy gripped the arm of his chair tightly. "We decided to take a year out. Explore the world."_

_"I see."_

_The girl was now fingering her short bob anxiously, though her face remained perfectly composed._

_"It also says that you both hail from New York City?" He raised his eyebrows._

_"Born and raised," she said, her smile meeting her eyes for the first time since the meeting had begun._

_"We moved out here for college," the boy was quick to clarify. "We both had an interest in business, and Berkeley gave us the step up that we needed to really succeed in the field."_

_The boy was good. To any eye less attune then his own, it would appear that the boy was being open and earnest. Then again, he expected no less from the son of Bartholomew Bass._

_He relaxed back into his armchair, dropping the file onto his desk unconcernedly. "You must realize that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you both? Rarely would any business, especially one as successful as Shina, take on two children with no experience and little to no qualifications. Frankly, it's unheard of."_

_The boy and girl both raised their eyebrows at him._

_"If you recall, Alexander, can I call you Alexander?" The boy smirked._

_"No, you may not."_

_Arrogant, disrespectful little so and so, Alexander thought grumpily. He glared at them both._

_"What, I think Charles means to say, is that you were the one who approached us, Mr. Wright." The girl cut in, giving her companion a warning look. "And while we are grateful for the opportunity, it's not to say that there won't be others. We haven't even applied anywhere else yet."_

_He gazed at her probingly and she met his stare evenly. He couldn't fault her for her poker face. And from what his associate had told him about the Waldorf's, he would rather have her on his side then working for a rival corporation. With that, and all the other minute details in mind, he relinquished his connection with the girl and conceded defeat. Obviously these two weren't going to back down without a fight. They knew their worth. They were both cocky, confident, children who would most likely never admit defeat even if they were in the wrong._

_They were just what he needed._

_"Let's talk salaries." He looked down at his file again, but still he caught the look of triumph that was shared between the two. He chuckled inwardly. They would be the making of this company someday._

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
_

_**Present Day...**_

"You asked to see us? Mr. Wright? Hello?"

Alexander was brought back to earth with a jolt as Blair repeated her question. He cleared his throat loudly and glanced up at his two protégées. Blair was smiling in the same confident way that she had so many years ago, and Charles was still donning his smirk as if it were a favorite tie.

Neither had changed much to look at in the past four years; Blair's hair was now down past her shoulders and Charles alternated between keeping his hair long and slicked-back, or short and spiked up. Both had the same expensive taste in clothing, Blair's style business-like and preppy, while Charles' style could only be described as exuberant and flashy. Both had the same sharp eyes and benevolent smiles, both had stuck together like glue since the day they arrived.

They were two of the most passionate people he had ever met in his entire life. Their back and forth relationship sent many a great mind into bafflement, their weekly screaming matches were the stuff of legends, and they were constantly at each other's throats. One minute they were sniping at each other, the next he was getting calls of complaint because they were tearing each other's clothes off in the middle of the conference room.

Together they were the cause of almost all of his graying hair. His once peaceful offices had never been the same since they'd entered them.

"As you are probably aware of by now," He eyed the two wearily, knowing full well that his workers were more loyal to them then they were to him. "I am stepping down as CEO. Come January there will be a new occupant of this chair."

As expected, neither one looked surprised. Chuck even had a knowing glint in his eye. Pushing that disturbing thought to the back of his mind, Alexander continued. "The Board has asked me to elect a candidate who I feel has the potential to take over as me."

By now Blair was gripping the arm of her chair excitedly and even Chuck looked mildly apprehensive.

"I have elected neither of you."

Both blinked at him blankly. They exchanged glances before turning to him.

"Excuse me? I don't think I heard you right." Blair said sweetly.

"I said, that neither of you are even remotely capable of running my business the way it deserves to be run." He stated. "Blair, you're a pushy, bossy, conceited young woman who strikes first and thinks about the consequences later."

Blair gaped at him.

He turned to Chuck. "You, on the other hand, are the most scheming, arrogant, manipulative asshole that I have ever met."

Chuck smirked and took it as a compliment. "Why thank you, I try."

Alexander rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Apart, each of you have the maturity and the intellect of a three year old. Together, however, you balance each other out. Together you make an unbeatable, unstoppable team. Which is why I've elected that the two of you should be joint CEO of this company."

If they were shocked before, they were speechless now.

Chuck, predictably, was the first to regain his voice. "I sense there's a _but_ in there somewhere."

Alexander sighed. "The Board don't approve. You've only been working here four years, yet somehow you've managed to pull yourselves through the ranks faster then anybody else in the history of the company. They don't trust you. Either of you."

"But surely they've noticed that the profits have more then tripled since we started here." Blair pointed out.

He nodded. "But they've also noticed that there's been a lot more drama too. They've heard all about your constant fighting and break-ups. They think that one day one of you will push the other too far and the company will suffer for it."

"That won't happen." Blair said narrowing her eyes.

"Your reputations leave something to be desired also. Charles, you especially will have to clean up your act." He said gravely.

"I feel like I'm seventeen all over again." Chuck said dryly.

Alexander looked at them both sternly. "The Board finally came to the decision that you be given control, if your loyalty can be proven."

"Loyalty?" Blair repeated confusedly.

He looked at Chuck whose expression had hardened.

"Shina Ltd. is the number one business corporation on the !est coast." Chuck said, smirking humorlessly. "Bass Industries is the number one business corporation on the East coast. How long have you known?"

"Ten years ago Charles Bass, heir of Bass Industries, disappeared without a trace. Six years later a boy by the same name turns up on the company's doorstep with a business degree and a large amount of wealth. With him was a girl by the name of Blair Waldorf, daughter of famous fashion designer Eleanor Waldorf, and lawyer Harold Waldorf. It wasn't hard to put together the pieces." Alexander told them tiredly.

Now they both exchanged wary glances.

"So how do we prove our loyalty?" Blair asked finally.

"You go back to New York and secure the Holman commission from under Bass Industries' nose." He said, wiping his brow. He was getting too old for this.

"And if we don't?" Chuck asked defiantly.

"Then you take your chances with the Board's replacement and pray he's as tolerant of your antics as I am." He looked them both over once more before returning to the papers on his desk. "Think about it."

He didn't look up again until he heard the door shut firmly behind them.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I want that job Chuck." Blair said as she stared out of the window of the limo on their way home later that night. "I have not worked my fingers to the bone for the past four years only to have it all taken away from me."

"And you think I'm going to?" Chuck shot back. "No. There's some way out of this. We'll bribe the Board or something."

"It won't work." Blair said dully, "The members of the Board are all millionaires already. They don't need the extra money, and it'll only strengthen their conviction of our incompetence if we do."

Silence hung in the air for several minutes until Blair spoke again.

"We should have realized that they'd make the connection. It wasn't rocket science, we couldn't have helped them to track down our past more if we tried."

Chuck sighed and poured two glasses of scotch. He handed one to Blair and she downed it quickly. He refilled her glass again.

"Blair, when we first moved here we decided that we'd keep our own names. We didn't hide anything, they just never asked." Chuck said bitterly. "We knew they'd figure it out sooner or later."

"We have to go back, don't we?" Blair said a few minutes later.

Chuck just swallowed a mouthful of scotch and didn't reply. Blair rested her head on his shoulder and gripped her hand in his.

"We always said that we wouldn't go crawling back begging for forgiveness with our tails between our legs." Chuck said suddenly. "If we go back – we go with our heads held high."

"No begging for forgiveness, no regret." Blair agreed dejectedly. "We made our decisions and we stick by them."

They each took a large sip of the alcohol and remained silent the rest of the journey.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Ten Years Ago....**_

_"Hepburn?" Blair mused as she and Chuck relaxed on the hot sands of a Caribbean beach. "Maybe Astoria?"_

_"Too easy to track down." Chuck told her, placing his sunglasses on his forehead and leaning forward to look over her shoulder and into her notebook filled with possible surnames. "Everybody knows you love Audrey, and the Waldorf-Astoria is one of your favorite hotels."_

_She huffed, "Well excuse me for wanting a classy name. You know as well as I do that the name Blair doesn't just go with anything."_

_"Johnston?" Chuck suggested. "Jones? Smith?"_

_Blair gave him a withering look. "I said classy, not trashy."_

_Chuck rolled his eyes at her before reclining backwards again and watching as the sun set over the faraway hills. If you had asked him six months ago if he'd ever just sit and watch a sunset, he'd have laughed in your face. But now, in the past few weeks as he toured the world with Blair at his side, he honestly couldn't imagine doing anything else. He watched her silently as she wrote down a few more names before crossing a line through them wearily. She had been debating this for days now, trying to decide what names would suit their new life. Apparently, their first names were a given; Chuck and Blair could never be anything other then Chuck and Blair. But their last names posed a big issue for her._

_Waldorf and Bass just seemed to fit in the way that no other name would. They had been going under the aliases of Blair Rosburn and Charles Lane for several weeks now, but if they were ever to settle down – and Blair was adamant that they would, and soon – they would have to come up with something more permanent. Especially if they were to enroll in college and sign a lease for an apartment._

_"We could always just stay as we are." Chuck told her seriously._

_Blair snorted. "With lower middle class names like those? I'd rather be a Humphrey."_

_"I meant, staying as Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass."_

_Blair froze, "What?"_

_Chuck didn't meet her eye. "If we change our names, it'll seem like we've got something to hide, like we're running away."_

_"Aren't we?"_

_"No. Blair, we're trying to make a life for ourselves that isn't defined by who our parents are or by how much money we have. This isn't about running away for once, it's about starting afresh."_

_Blair's eyes widened and she looked at him suspiciously. "Who are you and what have you done with Chuck Bass?"_

_"I'm serious Blair, don't you want to see what you can do without anyone's help? Without having anyone in the background calling the shots?"_

_"I guess," Blair said doubtfully. "But they'll be able to track us down. Mom and Daddy and Lily... they won't give up until we're back home and under their roofs."_

_Chuck looked at her, "We're eighteen Blair. If it comes down to it, legally we have the choice of where we want to live. They can't make us do anything."_

_"Chuck-" Blair started._

_He cut her off before she could say another word, "Trust me B, it'll be okay." His voice softened and he cupped her cheek in his hand. "I promise."_

_Blair just nodded and closed her notebook without another word._

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**A/N: This is just a filler chapter, designed to give a background into Blair and Chuck's life now and the people who influence it. This is set ten years on, for people who didn't quite get that, and Blair and Chuck are living and working in California. Some things are unclear in this chapter, like Blair's appointment and why Blair and Chuck aren't together, but I promise it will all be explained in the next few chapters. R&R, I'm open to any questions. ;)**

**Next Up: A look at Serena's life back in the UES, and more on Chuck and Blair's past.**

**PS - There probably will be quite a bit more flashbacks, so if you'd rather I didn't use italics for them and just put a clear annotation that it is actually a flashback I'd appreciate it if you told me in a review.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Serena Van der Woodson had a way of getting whatever she wanted. It was unintentional on her part, but no one, not even she, could deny that her life was perfect. So why then, if she lived this perfect life, was she curled up in a child's bedroom crying? A better question even, why had she been doing this same thing every day for the past fortnight?

As she dried her tears, she then completed the ritual that she had started fourteen days ago. She would examine in her mind each and every detail that she could use to try and confirm where exactly her life had taken such a sharp turn. Was it her wayward teenage years? Was it the loss of her best friend and brother in one night? Was it the moment that her only other true friend had began to despise her for her weaknesses?

As of yet, the only conclusion that she could draw from all of these memories was that she had never in her life been truly happy. As a child she had felt a crippling need to protect her younger brother from her mother's flightiness and love of romance. As a teenager she had always felt the need to explain her actions and repent them as her best friend had always guided her to do. And as an adult, she found that the one thing that mattered most to her in the world, was unwittingly making her so unhappy that she would cry in the confines of this particular room every day.

No, Serena Van der Woodson's life was far from perfect. But the less people who knew about that little minuscule detail, the better. And so, she slowly picked herself up from the hardwood floor, straightened her dress, brushed her fringe back from her eyes, and awaited the return of her beloved daughter from school. And as the gorgeous little dark-haired girl flung herself into the arms of the only woman she had ever known as her mother, Serena could almost cast aside the depression and the worry that she felt at the knowledge that that same dark-haired girl with the face of an angel, really descended from a woman who was more likely in cahoots with the devil.

And as little Tori Edwards opened her big hazel eyes and looked to Serena with so much love and affection, Serena could only hope that she could do enough to ensure that this apple strayed as far away from the proverbial tree as was possible.

__________________________________________________

_**Four Years Ago....**_

"_Mom, I promise I will be home in time for Thanksgiving dinner." Serena laughed as her companion raised a suggestive eyebrow at her from the bed where he was resting. "I know, I know – it's been months. I can't wait to see you either. Am I still in France? No, actually I'm here in New York." Serena bit her lip. "Brooklyn actually. I'm... meeting up with an old friend. Yeah. Marie introduced me to him a few months ago, he's her brother. Mom no! What is this? Twenty questions? He's just a friend." _

_Pierre slowly stood up from the bed and began caressing her neck with his lips. Serena squealed slightly as his hands made their way further down her body and she quickly said her goodbyes to Lily. "Mom, I've got to go... yeah, love you too! Bye!" She practically flung her phone across the room and attacked Pierre. _

_Somehow they both managed to fall back onto the bed without injury, and Pierre had just started to lift her shirt over her shoulders and kiss the skin underneath when a loud crash from the apartment directly above caused them to spring apart. _

"_What was that?" Serena asked breathlessly, clutching her hand to her heart._

_Pierre shrugged his shoulders, but looked unconcerned. "Lady upstairs, she... she is not best person. I see men, sometimes more then one, visit at all hours of the morning. It is not my business, I stay out."_

_Serena looked up at the ceiling nervously, "I think we should check. Just to be on the safe side." _

"_Serena," Pierre said in his thick accent, "Is none of your business either."_

"_She could be hurt," Serena protested, "she could have fallen and hit her head against something. If it was me – I'd want someone to check." _

_Nodding emphatically, Serena straightened her blouse and pulled on her skirt. She grabbed her heels and slipped them on before looking at him determinedly. "Are you coming?"_

_Pierre sighed and uttered some words in French before obligingly pulling on his previously discarded clothing before taking her hand and allowing her to drag him out of the room and into the hallway. Together they made their way up the grungy staircase to the fifth floor, and Serena knocked on the door of apartment 512._

_When she received no reply, she pushed against the door and peeked tentatively through the crack, ignoring Pierre's huff of disapproval. When still she saw no one, she cracked the door a bit further. She let out a gasp and raced into the room at what she saw._

_Sprawled out on the floor, was a brunette woman with little to no clothing on. In one hand was a half empty bottle of Vodka, and in the other was a small bag filled with white powder. Serena crouched down next to her and yelled for Pierre to call an ambulance. She felt the woman's neck for a pulse, but found none. Pierre helped her to roll the woman over and onto her back, thus succeeding in moving her hair from her face as they did so. Serena let out a shriek as Pierre started to lay pressure on the woman's heart._

"_Ohmigod, ohmigod." Serena breathed, recognizing the familiar features. "Georgina!"_

"_You know her?" Pierre shouted._

"_Yeah," Serena said, tears pouring down her cheeks. "She used to be one of my best friends. She has to wake up! I can't do this again, not this time." Serena said, almost to herself. "Georgina wake up!" She shook the lifeless body frantically until Pierre gently pulled her away and held her until the paramedics came._

_Serena broke down again as they pronounced Georgina dead on the scene. She turned away as they put a blanket over the still warm corpse, and as they asked Pierre questions she looked around the room, her body shaking with silent sobs. The place was filthy. There were bottles everywhere, old pizza boxes still half full, days old takeout still in trays. There was dust on every surface, and a large mattress was stuffed in the corner. There were needles and syringes everywhere. _

_She walked slowly to the other side of the room and peered into a tiny bedroom, it was not much better then the rest of the apartment. A large wardrobe dominated most of the room, and there was a small single bed in the middle. She had just turned to leave again when she heard a small crying sound. She spun around and darted further into the room, only to find something that she had missed on first glance. In the far corner, beside the wardrobe, there was a shabby old bassinet. _

_Inside was a tiny baby – it couldn't have been older then six months – clutching at a ratty pink blanket and crying its eyes out. Instinctively Serena reached for the baby and clutched it to her chest, rocking it gently and making soothing noises as she did so. Serena quickly shouted for a paramedic, and watched anxiously as the man looked the baby over. _

_He nodded gravely to Serena, "She's underweight, and she appears to be having slight difficulty breathing – probably as a result of the dampness in the room over a prolonged period of time. Other then that she appears fine."_

"_What will happen to her?" Serena asked hoarsely. _

_It was a police officer who answered her, "She'll be taken into protective custody until a father or a relative can be found. I'm Detective Baker, I'd like to ask you a few questions about Georgina."_

_Serena nodded, prying her eyes away from the baby. "Can I come and stay with her until you reach her Grandparents? I don't want her to be alone." Serena looked at him pleadingly until he nodded reluctantly._

__________________________________________________

"_What do you mean they don't want to take her?" Serena asked her mother angrily, a few days later. "She's their granddaughter!"_

_Lily sighed as she enveloped her daughter in a hug, "It's not that simple sweetheart. Mr and Mrs Sparks haven't seen or heard from Georgina in years. They'd given up on searching for her, only to get a call saying that she'd died of an accidental overdose. They just need time to grieve."_

"_And what about what Victoria needs?" Serena demanded, pulling away. "She's just a baby, hasn't she been through enough?"_

"_Serena, darling, I understand." Lily said soothingly. _

"_No! No you don't!" Serena said, tears pricking her eyes yet again. "You weren't there Mom, you didn't see what Georgina was like. You didn't see how they were living. I can't just let this go, it could've been me laying there on that floor. If you and everyone else hadn't stepped in on time..." Serena shook her head and whispered, "It could've been me."_

_Lily rested her head on her daughter's shoulder and didn't reply. There wasn't much that she could say. It was the truth, and they both knew it._

__________________________________________________

_**Present Day...**_

"What time is Daddy coming home tonight?" Tori asked later that day as she and Serena sat down to eat dinner.

"Late," Serena smiled sympathetically as her daughter's face fell. "He has to work sweetie, but you'll see him all day tomorrow."

Tori stirred her broccoli around her plate sulkily, "And then he's going on that business trip until Saturday. And then we have the Gala on Sunday."

"I know," Serena sighed, "but he'll be finished this account soon, and then he's promised to take us away for a few days. Wherever we want."

Tori's face brightened. "Really?" She asked, clapping her hands excitedly.

No, Serena thought honestly, but he will when I'm through with him. Instead she nodded enthusiastically, "Yep, and I'll tell you what," she lowered her tone to a conspiratorial whisper, "if you manage to eat all of your vegetables until we leave, I'll even let you pick where we go. Deal?"

Serena laughed as Tori immediately started shoving broccoli into her mouth. "I'll take that as a yes."

__________________________________________________

"You're sure about this?" Chuck asked her one more time before they stepped into the limo.

"Yes," Blair nodded, "let's just go there, and get it over with."

"Blair this deal could take weeks to close, and even then we'll have to stay and finalize all of the details." He told her. "And we'll be going directly against Lily and the company. They're not going to take us snatching their business from under their noses lying down. We're going to have to fight for it. And that means going to all of the fancy dances and mingling with our old friends."

"I know," Blair told him impatiently. "I've thought about this just as much as you have. We'll go there, we'll win the account, and then we'll come back and take over our rightful places as joint CEO."

"It's not going to be that simple. You're deluding yourself if you think it will be."

"Chuck, it will be that simple if we make it that simple." Blair said sternly. "Now shut up, and get in the damn car."

Chuck sighed but did as he was told. "Are you sure you have everything?" He said, changing the subject. "I don't want this to be a repeat of Rio."

Blair glared at him, "Let's _not_ have that particular conversation minutes before we are set to board a ten hour flight."

Chuck held his hands up in mock innocence. "Fine with me," he smirked, "does this mean we can find other, more entertaining, ways to occupy ourselves?"

Blair rummaged in her purse until she found her palm pilot. She handed it to him along with a thick sheaf of paper filled with all of the names and numbers of Manhattan's elite. "You can start typing those into my address book," she told him briskly. "I'll start looking up information on some of the new blood."

"Not exactly what I had in mind," Chuck muttered as he began to copy in the numbers, "but whatever."

Blair smirked to herself as she opened her laptop.

__________________________________________________

Blair yawned as she lifted her head from it's uncomfortable perch against the window of the airplane. It had been a long time since she had resorted to flying commercial, ten years almost, but she hadn't wanted to use the jet. Somehow, sitting in a cramped compartment with thirty other people, it just felt right.

They had left from JFK, and they would return to JFK. Even if the seats were horrible and the man two rows down had a cold and kept coughing incessantly.

Granted they were flying first class and their hand luggage got three seats all to themselves, but still, Blair reasoned, it _was_ a sacrifice. She was sitting and drinking lukewarm champagne here whereas she would have been drinking ice cold Christalle in the jet. Chuck thought she was mental of course, but after she had explained her reasoning he had reluctantly agreed.

Emphasis on _reluctantly_.

They were six hours into the flight and he had done nothing more then sit and read and sleep. He hadn't even bothered flirting with the airhostess, or suggest that they rejoin the mile high club. Either he was sick, or he was really worried about coming home.

Home. Blair frowned at the unconscious use of the word. She wasn't even back yet, and already she was thinking of New York as home. No. LA was her home. She lived in a gorgeous apartment near the beach. She worked for Shina Ltd. And most importantly, she answered to no one. Except Chuck – but he didn't count. She was in control of her own life. She was strong, beautiful, smart, ruthless and deadly. She was Blair Cornelia Waldorf – be it in LA, New York or the moon.

So why was she so afraid that the second she step foot in Manhattan she'd automatically resort back into the insecure, selfish, spoilt little princess that prayed upon other people's insecurities because she couldn't handle her own? Why was she afraid that after working for ten long years to be a better person, one glimpse of someone fawning over the perfect Serena would send her reeling back again? Why was she terrified that not only would she revert to her old self, but that Chuck would too?

He had changed more then she had since they'd left. The essence of Chuck was still there; he was still the cheeky, arrogant, playboy she had fallen in love with in the back of a limo over eleven years ago. But he was different. All of the hurt and the pain and the misery that had plagued him his whole life had vanished the second that they had bought their first apartment together and he realized that she was in it for the long haul. That she wasn't going to leave him the second times got tough. And get tough they did.

When she was sick, he had stood by her. He had been strong for her. Just like she had been strong for him so many times before. They were a team now, be they together or not. There was no one person making sacrifices for the other. It wasn't a question of obligation, or of duty. They were Blair and Chuck, Chuck and Blair. Together forever and always. No matter what they said, no matter what they did. They had been through too much to let anyone or anything split them apart.

She only hoped that everyone else understood that.

Because even as stable and as sturdy as their relationship was, it had only ever been tested by people who barely knew them, and vice versa. The had fledged their relationship around each other. In a city where they had no one else but the other it was either stick together or crumble. But against Serena and Nate, Lily and Eleanor, Harold and Jack...

Would they be strong enough to withstand the anger and the hatred and the judgment of the people who knew their deepest thoughts and secrets?

LA was home now. But New York would always be _home_ to them.

LA was just Chuck and Blair. A single entity, never to be divided. New York was Chuck, _and _Blair. Blair, _and _Chuck. With all of the in betweens.

"We'll be okay right? It will all be okay?" She asked fearfully. Speaking quietly, in a whisper. Chuck almost didn't hear her.

He smiled faintly. "No. It won't be. But we'll survive." He took her small hand in his and she squeezed. "We always do."

__________________________________________________

As they walked into the lobby of the Plaza hotel later that night, Chuck was thankful for the fact that as of yet they had not spotted anybody they knew or had known. It had been nerve wracking, the whole journey into the city. Every blonde woman was Serena, every man Nate. Any child was immediately suspected of being Serena's infamous daughter, even though they didn't even have so much as a photograph of her to go on.

They had had five days to get used to the idea of returning – it hadn't been enough. And now, tomorrow morning, they were going to breakfast with the heads of Holman Enterprise, an up and coming computer chip manufacturer whose recent breakthrough could earn everyone involved millions of dollars. But they needed financial backing to take the company public. That was where Bass Industries came in. It had money and influence, and the business know-how to really make Holman a success. Bass Industries were also looking to expand. While the hotel business in general had lost money over the past few years with the economic downfall, Bass Industries had grown larger and more powerful. It had the cash flow to be able to buy out many of the struggling nightclubs and hotels and turn them into major successes. It also helped that the clientèle that Bass Industries aimed at had never had to worry about a dime in their lives.

The business genius that had made Bass Industries grow far beyond anything Bart himself had ever dreamed of? His younger brother, Jack Bass.

And now he wanted to try his hand at electronics and micro-chips. Chuck wasn't really surprised, Jack had never heard of limitations. Much less boundaries. That night at the Opera all those years ago proved that much. He bet it had killed Lily to have to relinquish her hold on the company to Jack. Hell, Chuck himself hadn't exactly been thrilled when he'd heard, but in the absence of Bart's heir, Jack was entitled to the company. There was no way around it.

Unless Chuck came back. Which he wouldn't. Ever. Jack was welcome to the company as far as he was concerned. But Jack didn't know he felt like that. If Chuck even hinted that his intentions were to take over the company, Jack would lose everything that he had worked so hard for over the years. He'd do anything in his power to stop Chuck, even if it meant letting go of a potential client that would bring in twice their yearly revenue in six months.

If need be and worst came to worst, Chuck could have Blair out of here in a week.

With this thought I mind, he signed in under his real name and instructed the concierge to have their bags taken up to their suite. He then lead Blair to the bar and smirked as he took in their only ally. "Bro. Long time no see."

Eric spun around in his chair and grinned at the two. "All of eight months." He signaled to the barman to get them more drinks and patted to the seats beside him. Blair took his right while Chuck took the seat to his left. "I certainly wasn't expecting to get a call two hours ago saying that you were in town. Mom's convinced I have a secret boyfriend, I excused myself so fast."

"Sorry about that E." Blair shrugged, "We would have called sooner but it's been kind of hectic these past few days."

Eric raised his eyebrows. "So I gathered. Care to explain?"

"Business," Chuck told him, taking a drink of his scotch. "Wright wants the Holman account. Guess who he sends to secure it."

"I heard my mom talking about that. So it's big?"

"Big enough that Shina is risking making an enemy of Bass Industries for." Blair said. "Not so big that they're above using it to test our loyalties."

Eric nodded in understanding. "So how do you guys want to play this?"

"We want as least publicity as we can. We get in, we get the deal, we get out." Chuck looked at Blair for conformation. She nodded.

"What about everyone else?"

Blair sighed, "There's no way we can avoid seeing any of them is there?"

Eric shook his head. "Definitely not. And there's a big Gala on in a few days. You're going to have to make the rounds quickly if you want to avoid publicity. The last thing you want is your dirty laundry aired in front of everyone."

They exchanged glances. "So who do we go to first?"

Eric bit his lip, thinking. "If you don't go to Nate and Serena first, Serena will be hurt and Nate will just get angrier. Likewise with your parents Blair. You're best bet is getting them all in the same room at the same time."

Chuck nodded in understanding. "What time does your family dinner party start tomorrow night then?"

"What dinner-- oh." Eric sighed in resignation. "I don't suppose it matters to you two that I might have had plans?"

Blair smirked. "Not particularly. Besides, if we're your secret lover then how exciting can your life really be?"

Eric glowered at her. "As a matter of fact, I'm late to meet someone right now." He got to his feet. "Try not to disappear again while I'm gone. This time I might not bother to track you down."

"We'll bring the wine?" Chuck called after him. Eric send him a rude hand gesture in response.

**R&R**


	4. Chapter 4

Eric tapped his foot nervously as he waited for Serena to open the door. He had come directly from the Plaza, not even bothering to go home first. He rapped again anxiously as he busied himself with trying to look natural. He couldn't let Serena think something was up. If she knew about _their_ return she'd go straight over there, and while Chuck and Blair probably didn't deserve to deal with the repercussions of their actions on their own terms, he had promised. Besides, Serena had her own problems. He had known for some time that things weren't quite right with her, and tonight he was determined to find out exactly what was wrong.

He was just about to knock again when a very frazzled Serena flung open the door. "What?" She snapped.

He recoiled slightly and held his hands up in front of his body protectively. "I come in peace."

Serena smiled slightly despite herself, and opened the door to let him in. As he entered the familiar townhouse he grinned fondly at the large portrait of himself, Serena, and Chuck that hung in the hallway. It was taken a few weeks before the now famed Bass/Van der Woodson wedding, and was one of the few they had in which Chuck was actually smiling. The original had actually contained Lily and Bart in the background as well, but Serena had paid to have them cropped out by an expert. Needless to say, Lily had not been too pleased when she had heard, but when she saw the plaque that was engraved onto the bottom of the mahogany frame she had excused herself to the bathroom quickly before anyone could see her tears. She had never brought up the portrait again, but Eric had caught her wipe away a stray tear from her eye as she gazed at the portrait one more then one occasion.

The plaque read: The Van der Bass Family.

It was simple, but loving. Chuck would really appreciate it. Eric could only hope that the dinner tomorrow night would pave the way for Chuck and Blair to be able to call in and see it from time to time.

"Why are you here so late? You should have called ahead." Serena tried her best not to let her irritation show. She failed.

"What? I need an invitation to visit my own sister now?" Eric asked, coming out of his revere and looking at her disheveled appearance and weary stance.

Sensing his gaze, Serena shifted self consciously and wrapped her arms across her chest. "No. Of course not." She sighed, "I was just trying to get Tori to go to sleep. She wanted to wait up for Michael."

"He's not home yet?" Eric glanced at the large clock overhead the mantle that was close to striking twelve. Serena just shook her head and rested against the leather sofa in reply.

"What are you doing here Eric?" She asked, her voice tired now as opposed to annoyed. "Don't you have a home to go to? Liam hasn't kicked you out again has he?"

Eric chuckled at the mention of his somewhat eccentric roommate. "No. Actually I just wanted to invite you in person to a dinner party that I'm hosting tomorrow night."

Serena looked down, "Sorry, we can't make it.

"Can't make it to what?" Michael's deep, pleasant voice asked. Eric turned to see his brother-in-law dropping his briefcase and coat in an armchair and loosening his tie before coming and planting a kiss on Serena's forehead. He looked at them both expectantly.

"I was just telling Serena that I'm planning on hosting a dinner party tomorrow night." Eric repeated, "Just family and friends. Nate and Vanessa, maybe the Roses?"

Michael grinned and clapped Eric on the back amiably. "Why we'd love to come. It's my day off, so we should have no problem attending."

"What about Tori?" Serena cut in. "We don't have a sitter."

Michael thought for a second, "Well I'm sure Robyn wouldn't mind watching her for a few hours. I'll call her tomorrow morning and ask." He turned to Serena brightly. "Alright?"

She smiled weakly at him, and inclined her head once. He took that to be his answer.

"Great, that's settled then." He nodded to himself, looked once between the brother and sister, before tactfully excusing himself.

Eric watched him go gratefully. After he was sure that Michael was upstairs and out of hearing, he turned to his elder sister.

"What's going on Serena?"

She looked puzzled, "What do you mean? Nothing is going on."

"Then why didn't you want to come to the party tomorrow?"

"Spending my Tuesday night drinking champagne and listening to mom prattle on about how I don't go to her society dinners anymore is not my idea of fun Eric."

"It used to be." He pointed out. "Up until about a year ago you used to love going to those society dinners. Don't you remember how much fun you used to have? Dressing up, tucking Tori into bed early, and letting your hair down for a few hours before going back home and being a wife and mother again. You adored those parties, and you know it."

"Adored. Past tense. I have more important things to be doing now."

"Like? You barely even leave the house anymore unless you're dragged out of it."

"Like being a mom." Serena answered sharply. "Is it so wrong of me to want to spend my free time with my daughter then to waste it on partying?"

"No. Of course it's not." Eric ran his fingers through his hair. His voice softened. "But you have to know, you're not acting like yourself anymore Serena. I'm really worried about you."

"Well don't be," She told him, "I'm fine."

"You are not fine. Look at you." He indicated her appearance, taking added note of the bags under her eyes. "You're a mess."

"I've been on my feet all day. What do you expect?"

"Honestly? I expect you to not look like I did the summer before Mom had me committed to the Ostroff Center."

She glared at him, before saying coolly. "I don't have time to listen to this right now. I think you should leave."

He glared back. "I'm just trying to help."

"Well I don't need your help, Eric. I'm fine." She repeated, the hard sheen in her eyes daring him to contradict her.

He averted his gaze to his feet, "Nate's coming tomorrow." He said finally. "I'll tell him to speak to you, maybe you'll talk more to him."

"There's nothing to talk about," She stressed.

Eric didn't answer as he showed himself out.

**______________________________________________________________**

Blair looked at the ceiling of the luxury penthouse forlornly. It was old style, all blue flowered wallpaper and white damask. Slightly reminiscent of her old bedroom, but she didn't particularly want to follow that train of thought.

Chuck had requested this suite especially for them. One, because it was two bedroomed, and two because both were sick of the modern landscapes and stylings of LA. LA was gorgeous, sure, but there was something about the essence of grandeur and timelessness that Manhattan had in plentiful that drew her in. Classical was always her preferred style. That hadn't changed.

Groaning, she slowly raised herself so that she was propped up by her elbows. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was eleven fifteen. Chuck had probably left hours ago.

They had agreed last night that he should go alone for the first meeting with the heads of Holman Enterprise. Size up what they were dealing with, then Blair would come in for their second meeting as a fresh face and to give a new perspective on the deal. It was their preferred strategy, one that had always paid off.

They weren't Shina's best agents for nothing.

So, that left Blair the morning off. She had told Chuck that she would most likely hit the Spa to relax after the lengthy plane journey and to not expect her back until early afternoon. She had no intention of going near the spa.

Blair got to her feet briskly and grabbed one of the freshly pressed outfits that the maid had laid out on her dresser. She showered quickly and straightened her long hair before placing a beret on top. Her clothes were dark and made to blend in with the crowd, albeit a crowd with expensive taste, and she picked out a pair of dark sunglasses and grabbed her purse before leaving the hotel room and making her way to the elevator and then through the lobby.

She was just about to hail a taxi when she spotted a Starbucks across the street and remembered that she had yet to eat anything since dinner on the plane yesterday. She sighed as she debated her options. If she did go and grab coffee and a croissant then she would be spared a lecture from Chuck and his incessant worrying about her eating for the duration of their trip. Then again, if she was spotted or if anyone recognized her then she would be forced to deal with things that she wasn't ready to deal with. Especially without Chuck or Eric as backup.

There was always room service in the hotel of course, but Chuck could be back any minute and she really didn't know how long her story would hold up under his scrutiny.

_So this is where the phrase damned if you do, screwed if you don't came from_, she mused ironically as she ultimately crossed the street and entered the busy cafe. Taking care that her hair covered most of her face, she placed her order – low-fat caramel latte, a croissant and an energy bar, to go -- and sat down at one of the tables, drumming her fingers against the cool metal surface and glancing around her impatiently. When the waitress called her order it took Blair less than thirty seconds to approach the counter and grab her food before making her way towards the door, slipping a twenty into the waitress's hand as she did so.

Once she was sitting in the taxi sipping her latte she let out a sigh of relief. Ignoring the less than pleasant thoughts that occurred in her mind as she reclined against the weathered and stained fabric of the cab and what had caused it to be like that, she took a small bite of her croissant and another sip of coffee as she tried to muster up her courage to make this next stop. She was just draining the last of her latte and wondering what to do about the packaging when the taxi came to a halt outside of a townhouse in a neighborhood of tall, brick buildings identical to it.

The one she was interested in was number twenty-nine. She paid the driver absently, and watched as he sped off with her empty styrofoam cup and her paper bag still in the backseat. She inhaled deeply, before turning and half-walking/half-running up the stone steps and ringing the doorbell. A short, stout lady in a maid's uniform opened the door and ushered her inside. She instructed her to wait in the foyer as she went and got Mrs. Edwards.

Blair just nodded and perched on the leather ottoman that lay in the center in the center of the spacious room. She looked around her obliviously, too excited to take note of any detail that surrounded her. She took off her sunglasses and ran her fingers through her hair as she heard footsteps echoing on the staircase and turned with bated breath to greet her sister.

"Hey S."

Her eyes filled with tears and her voice hitched as she rushed forward and embraced the stunned blond. Slowly, Serena's arms came up and wrapped themselves around Blair's back. She squeezed tightly, hardly able to believe her own eyes.

"B?"

**______________________________________________________________  
**

"I... I don't believe it." Serena said hoarsely, wiping away her stray tears. "Is it really you?"

Blair nodded, as she both laughed and cried at the same time. "In the flesh."

Serena clutched her hand tightly as she led Blair to sit down on the sofa. "But how...? I mean when, I mean-"

"Chuck and I are in town for business," Blair sniffled. "We arrived last night. We were supposed to wait until later tonight so that we could see everyone at the same time, but I couldn't wait. I couldn't stand the thought that you were so near, just across town – I needed to see you."

"Tonight? Eric's dinner party?"

Blair nodded again.

Serena's eyes widened. "But then that must mean that you've... "

Blair swallowed thickly, "He met up with us last night. Chuck called him after we landed at the airport."

"Called him?" Serena repeated dumbly. "You have his number?"

Blair bit her lip nervously.

"He's known." She realized, "All this time, he's known where you are. Where you and Chuck have been living. He's known!" She got to her feet and glared down at Blair, a hurt and betrayed look gracing her features. "I haven't seen you in ten years Blair. _Ten years_. I'm lucky if I get so much as a card at Christmas." She shook her head disbelievingly. "How could you?"

"I'm sorry." Blair shrugged helplessly. "Eric... he tracked us down a few months after we'd left. Told Chuck that he was his brother, whether Chuck liked it or not and that he wasn't going anywhere until he got a promise that we'd keep in touch. He visits us a couple of times a year or else we meet him somewhere."

Another wounded look. "He's been lying to me all these years?"

"We made him. After he saw us living in LA, what we were like, how we acted – he understood. So he agreed to keep it a secret."

"Understood? Understood what? What is there to understand? You left because Chuck couldn't cope anymore and you didn't want to lose him. That's what you told me Blair."

"I know what I said. And that's what it was like – at first." Blair sighed as she tried to explain. "At first it was about us getting away from it all. Letting go of all of the stress and the things that were holding us both back. All the expectations, the pressure... We were both sick of it. We just wanted to be normal teenagers for once in our lives, you know? We wanted to go to college and have fun, we didn't want to be looking over our shoulders every five minutes to see if someone was there with a cell phone ready to document it on Gossip Girl whenever we let our hair down. We needed to be ourselves. I needed to be myself, not the bitch who everyone hated."

"And you couldn't have done that at home? I mean you were headed to NYU anyway. You could have gotten your own place, broken away from that old crowd. You didn't have to travel across the country to do it. It didn't have to be that way."

"Yes," Blair insisted, "I did. And it wasn't just the Mean Girls, S. It was my mom, Nate, you... Everyone who made me feel bad about myself. Who made me try to change who I was, who I am.

"Serena, I love you. Really I do. You're my sister and you always will be. But all my teenage life I had been trying to get out from behind your shadow. I was the pale, dark-haired girl with self-confidence issues and you, you were the golden goddess with curves in all the right places." Blair held a hand up to stop Serena from cutting in. "And I know, that that is not your fault. I understand that now. But I didn't back then. Don't you see?"

She squeezed Serena's hand gently. "I'm different now. I know who I am, and I know who I'm not. I'm not that jealous little girl anymore, I've grown up. But I couldn't have done it here. Not with all of my demons resurfacing every time someone looked through me and onto you."

"So it's my fault you stayed away?" Serena asked quietly.

"No! That's not what I'm saying." Blair struggled to find the right words, "It's like... all my life I've been trying to stick to the fairytale that plays in my head. There was always a prince who would fall madly in love with me, the princess, and we'd marry in a lavish wedding... Except, as time went on, I started imagining you as the one who the prince would fall in love with. And soon after that it wasn't even the prince who would rescue me, it was his perverted and egotistical best friend!"

Blair rolled her eyes and Serena let out a begrudging giggle.

"The point is; after we got to California and had to fend for ourselves – I realized that life wasn't all about fairytales and happily ever afters. Sometimes the handsome prince isn't the right guy, and the princess needed to stop pretending that he was. Life isn't easy, and it certainly isn't fair. And going around with my head in the clouds wasn't going to make it any easier.

"So when I finally convinced Chuck to enroll us in Berkeley, I stayed in the dorms like any other freshman. I worked hard, but I didn't devote my life to study: I knew that it wasn't the end of the world if I got a B. I tried to be nicer to people – I even made friends with a girl who worked as a _mechanic_ in her spare time, if you can believe that. I was just another college student who was away from home for the first time in her life. I was one of the crowd. I didn't need to lead it.

"I grew up, and I made a life in California. And from the looks of it," Blair gestured around the room, at all the family portraits and the brightly colored toy chest that lay in the corner,"you've made a life for yourself too."

Serena nodded, "Yeah," she smiled softly, though tears still glistened in her eyes.

There was a few minuted pause in which both girls were lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Serena broke the silence.

"Blair, the night you left... I knew that you weren't running from your problems. You wanted to be with Chuck, I get that. I probably would have done the same in your position. So I... I understand. And I've missed you."

It was the closest Blair was going to get to forgiveness at that point. Both girls knew that. It wasn't in Serena's nature to hold a grudge for very long, but neither was she one to forgive and forget.

"So," Blair cleared her throat and wiped away any lingering tears. "I hear you have a daughter? Victoria? Tell me all about her."

Serena laughed at the not so subtle change in conversation but began to talk. And as they broke out the cocktail shaker some twenty minutes later before sitting on the balcony and gossiping about their lives, both felt as if no time had past since the last time that they had done so.

**______________________________________________________________**

"Honey, I'm home!"

Both girls turned to greet the new occupant of the room. Serena with some trepidation, and Blair with appraisal.

"Oh," Michael said in surprise upon seeing Blair, "I see we have a guest. I'm Michael."He held his hand out and Blair shook it, giving Serena an approving look.

Michael was a tall, slender, man in his mid-thirties. He had light brown hair that fell in casual waves across forehead neck, and bright green eyes that seemed to sparkle with humor and kindness. His tan skin and brilliant white teeth set off a contrast to the other, and his smile seemed to be fixed permanently in place. In short, he looked like he had stepped off of a runway and into a steady nine-to-five office job and a domesticated life.

"Hang on," Michael studied Blair's face for a moment, "you're Blair!"

Blair smiled, "I am. And you must be Serena's husband. She's told me so much about you."

"And I've heard so much about you." Michael beamed at them both as he pulled Serena close and planted a kiss on her forehead. "All the pictures Serena has shown me of you have not done you justice, you're stunning!

Blair blushed slightly, "You're not so bad yourself."

"Is Charles here with you?"Michael inquired, loosening his tie slightly.

"Yeah, Chuck is here. He had to work this morning,"Blair explained. She glanced at her watch. "Speaking of whom, he's probably wondering where I am."She stood up and gathered her previously discarded coat and purse. "I should go. It was very nice to meet you," she smiled brightly at Michael.

"I'm only sorry that you didn't get to meet Victoria."Serena said.

Michael groaned, "I just dropped her off at my sister's place an hour ago, if I had known you were here I would have brought her straight over."

"Oh well, another time." Blair replied, "I probably should have called first anyway."

"But you'll be at the party tonight?"Serena asked quickly, "And you'll be in town for a few days?"

"At the least," Blair assured her, waving to Michael as Serena showed her out. "We're not going anywhere for a while S. I promise."

Serena frowned, "Just make sure that you don't."

When they neared the doorway, Blair glanced around her and smiled when she saw the portrait.

"I had that done just after we moved in," Serena told her, following her gaze. "It was Michael's idea."

"He seems nice,"Blair said sincerely.

She picked up a smaller frame of Serena, Michael and who she assumed was Victoria visiting Santa Claus. "She's adorable."She smiled at her best friend. "You did well S. Congratulations."

Serena nodded and pulled Blair in for another embrace. "Love you B."

"Love you S."

**______________________________________________________________  
**

Chuck was just beginning to worry about Blair when she burst through the door of the suite. Tears glistened in her eyes, but she had a large smile on her face despite. He didn't have to ask where she was, her eyes told him everything he needed to know. Wordlessly he pulled her into his arms.

"She's so different Chuck." Blair whispered. "She looks the same, the same face, the same hair, but she's different. It's like she's a totally different person."

"We all are Blair." He reminded her, "Nobody stays the same as they are at eighteen."

"She's married. To this guy who in the ten minutes I was speaking to him never stopped smiling." Blair continued. "And her daughter, she's gorgeous. I only saw her in a picture, but already I can tell that she's happy. She's loved unconditionally, she has a home with a great big yard to play in, I saw so many different toys... They're the poster family that you see in magazines. The ones that stay together. Divorce isn't even a possibility."

"That's good isn't it?"

"Yes, of course it is."

"Then why are you crying?"

"She's got everything she ever wanted. She's happy."

He shook his head, utterly bemused. "I don't understand."

"I don't have to feel guilty about abandoning her anymore Chuck." Blair told him earnestly. "After we left I was terrified that she was going to get in over her head and there would be no one there to bail her out. I took my chance at freedom, I left and I stayed away so that I could make a life for myself." She hugged him closer, "I'm just grateful that my happiness didn't ruin hers."

**R&R  
____________________________________________________________**

**A/N - Sorry for the wait, I finished this a few days ago but the Serena/Blair conversation didn't really settle with me. I'm still not happy with it, but I decided to post anyway. Hope you enjoy, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter.**

Disclaimer - Don't own. Wish I did.


	5. Chapter 5

Nate laughed as he watched his cousin and their Grandfather having an avid discussion on the benefits of taking a year out to go traveling before starting college. His cousin, seventeen year old Matthew, was very much in favor of "learning how to cope in the real world" and "seeing new places" and "embracing new cultures". While his Grandfather watched on in amusement, adding in a disparaging comment every now and then. Seeing Nate standing in the doorway waiting to speak with him, William Van der Bilt quickly ended the conversation.

"Matthew if you are so adamant that you broaden your horizons, then I suggest that you get a job. Nate, good to see you. How's the lovely Vanessa?"

"Great, great, she's uh... great." Nate nodded, waving to his cousin as he stomped off in a huff. "Busy with the wedding plans of course."

"Not too long to go now," William smiled, leading Nate to sit down. "A few more months and she'll be Mrs. Nate Archibald."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Nate joked, "you know how Vanessa is about women's rights and stuff like that. If anything, I'll be Mr. Vanessa Abrams."

William chuckled as he sat behind his large mahogany desk. "I don't doubt that for a second."

"Actually that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," Nate said casually. "I heard something about the press being invited to the wedding?"

"Well, yes." William said, shrugging his shoulder's unconcernedly. "There will be a few reporters, a few photographers in the background. Just the usual."

"The usual?" Nate frowned. "I don't remember seeing any at Tripp and Maureen's wedding."

"Of course you didn't, you weren't supposed to notice them. They were just there to give an overview of the momentous occasion and to take some pictures of the dress and the bride and groom. Nothing major."

"I don't know how Vanessa's going to feel about having our wedding splashed over all of the tabloids for everyone to see. I mean, she was hoping to keep it low-key. Maybe have an announcement in the Society Pages after it was all over and done with?"

"I'm afraid that that's just not possible. Look at it this way, you're a figure in the public eye Nate. You need the people's support. And that means that you have to come off as a good, wholesome, family man. And hiding your wife away, that doesn't give a good image."

"Hiding her away? That's not what I'm getting at, at all. I just think that Vanessa would be more comfortable if –"

"Nate, you can assure Vanessa that I will do every thing I can to make sure that the reporters are very discreet. She won't even notice they're there." He glanced the papers on his desk. "Now if that's all, I have a few important phone calls to make."

Nate sighed, but took the hint and shook his Grandfather's hand before leaving the office. Vanessa was not going to like this one bit.

* * *

"Could you at least explain why I'm being kicked out of my own apartment on such short notice?" Liam asked grumpily, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at Eric. "Missy was gonna come over tonight."

"Liam, Missy is a professional call-girl. I'm sure she'll understand." Eric said through gritted teeth.

He still looked stubborn. "If she can't come here, then she'll be forced to go and sleep with some other dude. Some guy she doesn't even know. Can you handle having that on your conscience?"

"I'm sure my conscience will be fine with my not helping my roommate get laid," Eric rolled his eyes, "especially since he's _paying_ for the privilege."

Liam frowned, "Missy and I aren't like that. We've got feelings for each other. She's gonna leave all that behind. Get out of the business."

Eric put his head in his hands and groaned. "Liam, if you really want to meet up with Missy tonight, why don't you rent a hotel room?" _Like all of her other patrons do._

"I would, but if Missy comes dressed in her usual get-up then those snobs at the front desk of the Palace are gonna be looking down on her."

_I wonder why, _Eric thought bitterly. "Okay, so you buy her some proper clothes beforehand."

Liam snapped his fingers, "Yeah, that's a good idea! I can show her around Saks and Bendels. Buy her a couple of dresses." He got to his feet and reached for his wallet and his cell-phone.

"Just remember," Eric called after him, "this isn't Pretty Woman!"

He chuckled as Liam sent him a rude hand gesture in return.

After he had left, Eric turned his attention to the problem at hand. His mom and Rufus had agreed to come, as had Eleanor and Cyrus. Serena and Michael he had spoken to in person, and Nate had rang from the office saying that he and Vanessa could make it too. So that just left the two fugitives to worry about. Honestly, the amount of trouble he was going to to make sure that the whole night went smoothly and without the need to have 911 on speeddial. Most or all of the sharp and potentially lethal objects had been put away, as had the sharp kitchen knives. The caterers were taking care of the food, and the table had been set already. Things were going exactly according to plan.

And then the phone rang.

"How could you E?"

"Serena?" He furrowed his brow, "What are you talking about?"

"You've known. All this time, you've known. You've sat and watched as I paced in front of the letter box every Christmas praying that there's a card in there that will prove that Blair and Chuck are still alive and safe. You see me checking my email every 14th of July as I wait for the only birthday present that will ever matter to me; an email from Blair. You listen to me explaining to Tori every year on _her_ birthday who her Auntie Blair and Uncle Chuck are, and why they keep sending her such expensive presents. You've known that they were safe and you've never said anything!"

"You've seen them." It wasn't a question.

"Blair called over earlier today. She told me everything."

"Then you know that I had no choice. They asked me to keep it a secret – I promised."

"Well then you shouldn't have! You had no right to make that promise, let alone to keep it." She was borderline hysterical now, her shock of seeing Blair mixed with the anger of knowing that he had been in contact with her and Chuck for the past ten years couldn't be doing her blood-pressure any good. He felt guilty, but also slightly angry and defensive.

"I had just found my _brother_, Serena, and I was terrified that I was going to lose him again. I would have promised to break into Buckingham Palace if it meant that I got to speak to him on a regular basis."

"He's my brother too!"

"Then why the hell did you let him walk out of your life without so much as a second thought!" Eric shouted back, "You wanna know why I didn't tell you? Why I didn't automatically rush home to you and Mom with that information? It was because you gave up! After a few months of half-assed looking, it was like you and Mom just forgot all about Chuck. You moved on with your lives as if he hadn't existed. Like he meant nothing to you!"

He heard her gasp on the other end of the line and knew that he had gone too far, but he had held all of what he had to say in for too long. He had to let it out.

"Chuck may not be related to us by blood Serena, but he was there for me when you weren't. He was the one I went to when I first realized that I was gay, he was the one I told about Asher, and he was the one that helped me deal with the crap that was my life after Bart died and Mom started to see Rufus. While you were debating about which guy you next wanted to see, and what kind of image you wanted to give to those stupid socialites, we were leaning on each other. Trying to fix each other. And _you_ weren't there."

"You want me to apologize for the way I acted when I was seventeen? I thought we'd gotten over that years ago, Eric. How many times do I need to say that I'm sorry before you let it go?"

His voice was less angry now, more disappointed and weary. "I have let it go, S. That's all water under the bridge between us now. I've forgiven you for that. It's how you treated Chuck that I'll probably never forgive you for."

"What are you talking about? I got over my issues with Chuck after Bart died. You know that."

"_Your_ issues with Chuck," Eric repeated, "see, that's what I'm talking about. Chuck was a jerk to you that night at the Palace, he admitted it himself. He never should have done that to you or to Jenny. But have you ever stopped to think about what you were like to him after that? Even as he started to grow up and regret what he had done, you wouldn't let him forget it. You were always there with some put down, some snide remark. And he gave as good as he got, I know that. He wasn't totally blameless. But you always initiated most of the fights. You got Bart to kick him out of the apartment just to spite him, for Gods sake."

"I made a mistake! Eric, all of that was years ago. Why are you bringing it up again? This is about you not telling me that you were in contact with-"

"Eleven years ago." Eric agreed, cutting her off.

"Exactly!"

"Eleven years," he repeated. "Chuck left _ten_ years ago. That leaves one whole year Serena. Chuck left nine months after Bart died. Three of those he was MIA. Either too coked up or too out of it to realize who was who. I can't blame you for not being there for that, because I wasn't either. He pushed us away. But after that? In the six months that followed – you just accepted that Chuck was back to normal and went on with your life. You didn't even ask him if he was alright, if he was coping. He was supposed to be your _brother_ Serena."

"I didn't want to remind him of Bart! I didn't want to be looking over his shoulder every five minutes to see if he was okay like you and Mom were! That's why I never brought it up. That's why I acted as if life was normal. Chuck knew that."

"Did he?" Eric sighed, "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. But when it comes down to it, Chuck was there for you whenever you needed it. But you were never there for him."

There was silence on the other end of the line until Serena finally cleared her throat and said frostily. "Well if you've finished judging me, I have to go and get ready. Goodbye."

"Bye." Eric said to the dial tone, before hanging up. He put his head in his hands and groaned. That had not gone well at all. He hadn't considered that Serena and all the others might be angry with him. He was too caught up in planning the stupid dinner and his ideas of how much better everything was going to be now that Chuck and Blair were back.

_Well_, he thought monotonously, _I'd better get used to it. Mom and Eleanor and Nate aren't going to be happy with me either._

**

* * *

**

"Vanessa, I swear, if I could get around this I would." Nate insisted as they walked to Eric's apartment later that night.

She just glared at him in response as she fixed the strap of her neon pink silk shirt.

"And really, it's not that big a deal. I mean, so what if someone other then the wedding-photographer takes a few photos. We'll just get the negatives back sooner."

"Yeah, on the front page of some magazine."

"Front page? Don't you think that's aiming a little high? I mean it's only a wedding."

She gave him a dirty look.

"That was a joke," he told her, "you were supposed to laugh."

"Do you see me laughing?"

He pretended to study her face intently, "Hm, let's see. I'd hazard a guess at... no?"

"Give the boy a medal." Vanessa said sarcastically, still glaring.

"Oh come on, that's some of my best material. You're killing me here." Nate complained, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into a dark corner before she was able to enter the building. "'Nessa come on. Stop acting like this." He brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.

"Excuse me for not wanting paparazzi at our wedding. God, it's bad enough that every decision I make has to go through your Grandfather, now I can't even have my privacy?"

"Every decision you make doesn't have to go through him," Nate protested.

"He refused to let Ruby – my sister – be my maid of honor unless she cut her hair and dyed it brown." Vanessa stated.

Nate hesitated, "Her hair _was _purple. And in dreadlocks."

Vanessa opened her mouth to reply, but instead she threw her hands up and backed away. "You know what, I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Fine," Nate agreed grumpily, "Let's just go up."

Together they stepped into the elevator and Nate pressed the button for the top floor. They stood in silence until the elevator stopped.

Vanessa stepped out first, "Sorry we're late -" She paused upon seeing everybody standing in the middle of the room standing and staring at two of the occupants. "Oh my God." She breathed.

"Why did you stop?" Nate asked irritably, Vanessa just shook her head. Nate looked around the room. "What's going on?" His gaze rested on Chuck and Blair.

* * *

All eyes were now on him as he stared blankly at his two former best friends. Blair approached him with a wan smile on her face.

"Hey Nate."

The next thing he knew blind rage overcame him upon the realization that she was real. That Chuck, his best friend Chuck, the Chuck Bass that had abandoned him ten whole years ago, was actually standing in front of him, looking at him warily.

"What are you doing here?" He spat.

She flinched back at the anger in his tone. Nate ignored her and instead glanced around the room. He noticed that both Serena and Eric looked apprehensive as opposed to Eleanor, Lily, Vanessa, Rufus and Cyrus who were wide-eyed and shocked. Michael too was looking at him pityingly. It didn't take him long to grasp the situation. Nate's eyes flew back to Serena and he looked to her for back-up. She shook her head once, eyes pleading with him to understand.

Nate nodded, knowing that she had chosen her side. He shrugged his shoulders bitterly.

"I guess that's that then." He looked from Serena to Blair to Chuck and back again. "I hope you enjoyed your little reunion, sorry I couldn't have been there." Sarcasm. He rarely used it, but when he did he used it well. "I mean I guess you just forgot to call. Who can blame you? I mean you've been gone for ten years, what's another few hours between friends? Or was it days?" He glared at Serena. "Weeks? _Years?_"

She shook her head again, "Hours." She croaked hoarsely. He could see that the events had taken a toll on her too. He couldn't bring himself not to care, no matter how angry he was. "Blair only just came over this morning."

"Oh." Nate said, "Well then that's different." He pretended to nod understandingly as he looked at his watch. "This morning you said? Well it's after seven now. That's what, maybe eight hours? Yeah, I can really see where you couldn't find time to call."

"Nate." Serena tried.

"There wasn't time to visit you too Nate." Blair told him, swallowing deeply. "I was at Serena's for hours. And I don't... I don't even know where you live now."

Nate appeared to think it over, he tilted his head to the side. "You know what? You're right. You don't know where I live." He focused mainly on Chuck, who had yet to say a word. He just met his glare evenly with a blank stare. "But unlike you two, I'm listed in the phonebook."

"Nate-" Blair started, but he cut her off with a shake of his head.

"Don't worry, I get it." He looked from her to Chuck again before turning away. "You made your choice. And once again I wasn't important again to factor in it." Without another word, without so much as a glance to Vanessa who was reaching out to him, he walked steadily to the edge of the room and out onto the balcony, slamming the door behind him.

Serena and Vanessa both made to follow him, but it was Blair who reached the door first. She turned to them,

"I'll go." To Vanessa, "We need to talk." She walked through the doors, inadvertently slamming it shut behind her too.

"Well that went well," Eric muttered sarcastically.

Chuck just sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he awaited what would surely follow. He turned to Eleanor and Lily warily.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Don't own

**A/N:** Okay, first of all can someone please tell me that the line tool on the top of the 'edit document' thingy wasn't always there. You know, the one that's next to the Bold, Italic, and Underline button? Because I am feeling like the worlds biggest idiot here lol. I've been typing the line manually and hoping that it wouldn't go over the page space when it's posted since forever. Anyways... *coughs awkwardly*  
This chapter is shorter then the others. It was over 5,000 words but I decided to edit out the Nate/Blair convo and to put it in next chapter. It just seemed to heavy and full on with it in.

Also, for people wondering about **Blair and Chuck** there should be some advancement next chapter, and some explanations about what happened to get them to their sibling/friends bond that they have now. That bond wont last forever though, don't worry. Chair is far from over. It wont be instantaneous though, so I hope you're in for the ride. I think this story is going to be pretty long too. Maybe twenty chapters? Roughly anyway.

Lastly, **Review!** The reviews have been dwindling slightly in the past chapter or so from what they were, and I think a lot of people are still following judging by the number of hits and alerts. I really want feedback on this because I'm really interested in this story and I want to know if you like it. I love feedback. Thanks so much to those who reviewed last chapter. You guys are the best!


	6. Chapter 6

Blair rushed to follow him out, inadvertently letting the glass door slam shut as she did so. She jumped at the noise, but Nate didn't even flinch. She took a few hesitant steps closer but paused upon hearing his voice.

"You disappeared ten years ago Blair. Without so much as a goodbye. And now you think that you can waltz back in here like nothing has changed? Like we're still best friends?"

Blair flinched slightly at the anger and resentment that fueled Nate's voice but still she remained where she was.

"We were together, we were about to move in together, start a life _together_. But you just walked away. You flew off into the sunset without a thought for any of the people you were leaving behind. Left Serena and I to pick up the pieces that _you_ left in _your_ wake."

Nate got to his feet and paced for a few minutes before sighing and resting his hands upon the balcony as he looked over the city. Blair could hear his breathing start to even out as he calmed himself down. Still she didn't say anything.

"Chuck was broken, I get that, he was my best friend. I cared about him just as much as you did. And I – I _understood_ that you two had a bond between you, something that I couldn't relate to, and I accepted it. I accepted the heated glances, and the pain whenever you crossed paths, and the smiles whenever you were together. I accepted it and I understood. Because both of you were broken, and you had been relying on each other for comfort for a long time. I actually thought that that was my punishment, you know?" He gave a hollow laugh, "I thought, that it was fate's way of letting me know that I had screwed up. That I was so caught up in my own dramas to notice that you two were going through just as much as I was – and now I was paying the price for it."

Blair moved in closer until she too was leaning against the balcony. Nate didn't even look at her. He stared straight ahead as he spoke next.

"I was seventeen years old, Blair. I was just a kid playing at being an adult."

"We all were." Blair's voice held just as much sadness as Nate's did resentment. It served to calm him down further. "We were all just stupid, irresponsible, children."

"Except _you_ weren't. I used to so _envy _you. You had your whole life mapped out. And when something went wrong, went against your plan, you just made a new one and started again. No matter how many times you fell; you always got back up again, stronger and more determined then ever. And I _hated_ you for it." Nate let out a cold chuckle.

"Nate..."

"I hated that you could make right in seconds, what I tried weeks to do. After you left, whenever Serena got into one of her situations, or whenever she was upset and confided in me... I never knew what to say. I never knew what to do to make it right again. Sure, I knew how to mop up the vomit from the floor, knew how to make it so that Lily and Eric, and Gossip Girl never found out. But it was hard. And slowly but surely, I began to resent Serena for making me do it. Do you get that? I was mad at her, for being who she was.

"But I never told her. I hid it from her, I just kept building it all up inside, before finally I snapped. I stopped answering her calls, I avoided her at parties, and then, when Fall came and I got to go to Columbia and start over, I pretended that she didn't even exist." Nate swallowed heavily. "Weeks turned into months, and the months soon began to fly by. I was halfway through my sophomore year when I got the call. Saying that Serena had OD'd. That they suspected that it wasn't an accident. And in that second I realized that I could lose the last person who had ever truly understood _me_.

"So I packed my bags, and I stayed with Serena until I was one hundred percent sure that she would never do something like it again. And after that I realized that it wasn't Serena I was angry at. It wasn't Chuck, it wasn't even you. It was myself. I was furious with myself for not realizing sooner how hard it was to be you. To do what you had done without complaint, so many times before. I needed to talk to you, to bring you back and to make you stay. To make you take over as the main source of stability in our lives. To know that if I ever screwed up again, at least this time there would be someone there to make sure that it was just _my _life that I wrecked. So I decided to try and track you down."

By now silent tears were running down Nate's face and Blair's body was wracked with sobs.

When Nate started talking again his voice was softer, less accusing. "It wasn't too hard to find you. I had a pretty good idea of where you and Chuck would go. I knew you'd want to be far away from New York, without being too far. I knew that Chuck loved the sun and the beaches, and that his mom was originally from California, so I started searching there among other places. And then when someone reported back and told me that there was a Blair Waldorf and a Charles Bass enrolled in Berkeley, I took a plane straight down there."

"You did?" Blair frowned through her tears.

"Yeah, pointless really. I got as far as the University when I saw you, you were just sitting there on a bench on the campus lawn. You had your legs folded under you, your hair pinned back from your face, and you were just reading a book. I was just about to go over there when I noticed Chuck come up behind you and pull your hair down. You hit him of course, and he smirked before sitting down next to you and taking the book out of your hand..."

_Blair scowled as she felt her hair coming down from it's previously immaculate bun. "Chuck," She accused as the culprit came into sight. She slapped him on the arm as he smirked and plopped down onto the bench next to her. He snorted as he stole her book and glanced at the title._

"_Pride and Prejudice? Really Waldorf?" _

_Blair flushed as she snatched her book back and carefully marked her page before putting it in her handbag. "I thought it might be nice to read about romance seeing as how my boyfriend doesn't even know the meaning of the word." _

_He chuckled as he drew her close and entwined his fingers with hers. "Romance is overrated." He told her. "Besides, you have your very own Mr. Darcy right beside you, and I promise that I have no secret wives hidden in my attic."_

_Blair scoffed, "That was Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre, idiot. It's a good thing you're not an English major otherwise your grades would really be in trouble."_

"_I'll have you know that my grades are impeccable. Embarrassingly so. It comes from living with a manic-control-freak who takes the exact same classes as me." Chuck smirked._

"_Well the manic-control-freak will just have to remember that the next time the low-life lazy slacker comes to her for homework advice."_

"_You're just angry that it was my carefully dropped name that got us into this college a month before freshman year started."_

"_Correction, it was your bank balance and the new wing of the library that got us in that late. My 4.0 certainly helped as well." Blair told him with a smirk. _

_Chuck acknowledged the point, "Who would have thought that Chuck Bass is actually top of all of his classes."_

"_Or that we're actually living under the same roof and no one has been killed yet." Blair mused, before looking at her feet. _

_Neither of them spoke for a few minutes ,each caught up in their own thoughts. It was Blair who first broke the silence._

_I wonder how Serena's doing."_

_Chuck snorted, "She's Serena. She probably has the whole college fawning at her feet by this stage."_

"_I miss her." Blair said quietly. "And Nate. I even miss my mom and her constant criticisms, in a way."_

"_Me too," Chuck sighed, before giving her a wry smile, "although I think I'd live if I never saw Eleanor again."_

"_And Dorota." Blair continued. "The poor woman's probably lost without me."_

"_I thought she and that doorman were engaged?" _

"_They are. Were." Blair corrected, wistfully looking at the carefully inked name on the inside of her book. Blair Cornelia Waldorf. She hadn't been that girl in a long time."They're most likely married by now."_

_Chuck studied her in silence for a few minutes. "We could go back, return to our old lives." _

_He seemed wary to broach the topic. She knew that he was happy here. He didn't want to leave, but she also knew that if she really wanted to go home he would leave with her without a second thought. Still, his bringing the option up surprised her._

_Blair's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, Chuck, that's not what I meant. I'm happy here, happier then I ever was in New York. Believe it or not, I actually like it here." She smiled fondly as she gestured to the peaceful campus and the bright leafy foliage that surrounded it._

"_You mean you don't miss the wealth and the prestige that comes with being a Waldorf?" Chuck asked disbelievingly._

_Blair shrugged, "Sure I miss being Queen, and bossing everybody around – "_

"_You were very skilled at that." _

" – _I miss the snow, and shopping at Barney's. Feeding the duck's with Dorota at Central Park." A fond smile came upon her face, even as she was slapping Chuck lightly across the arm again for his snide comment. "I miss the people, I miss the place. But I don't miss the person that I was." She grabbed his hand and squeezed. "The people that we both were. I'm happy here."_

"_Good," Chuck said finally, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing the knuckles gently, "so am I."_

_She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as they moved back to safer topics_

"...you just looked so _happy_. So light and care-free. So in love. I couldn't go over there and wreck it." He gave her a wry smile. "You two were in your own little world. Oblivious to anyone but yourselves. After almost twelve years of knowing the two of you, growing up, watching as you two became more and more bitter as you both dealt with your insecurities, I think it was the first time I'd ever seen you look so content. So I got back in the taxi, and came home." He glanced at her. "I've never told anyone that until now. Not even Vanessa."

Blair nodded, swallowing the remainder of her tears. "I'm sorry."

He studied her, before saying decisively. "No you're not."

"You're right." Blair said, feeling her voice harden and strengthen again until she was almost speaking in her usual confident tone. "I took a chance to live my life the way I deserved to live it. I don't regret that. And I won't apologize for it either. But I am sorry that you're hurt. I'm sorry that I haven't seen you or talked to you in so long. I'm sorry that I don't know who you are anymore, and that you don't know who I am. I'm sorry that I never said goodbye, that we never got closure on a relationship – on a _friendship_ – that lasted so many years."

"But you're not sorry."

"I'm not sorry." Blair echoed.

Nate nodded and Blair moved to stand beside him. Together they stood in silence and watched as cars ran down the noisy street and their lights shone against the glass and the metal that made up the store fronts.

* * *

Chuck cleared his throat as both Lily and Eleanor stared him down. Eleanor's eyes pierced through him, hatred and bitterness in her features, her usually controlled demeanor was long gone.

"Charles." She said frostily. "Nice to see you're keeping well. I trust _my_ _daughter_ has been taking good care of you."

"Eleanor," Chuck returned.

He wasn't in the mood to play nice and if Eleanor wanted him to apologize for "stealing" her daughter then she would be severely disappointed. Part of him wanted to just ignore all of the lingering glares that two-thirds of the room were emitting and go out onto the balcony and see what was happening, make sure that Nate's anger wasn't reflecting on Blair too harshly. She didn't deserve the guilt trip that he would surely put her on. But the saner, and thankfully more dominant part, of him knew that they had issues to work through. He couldn't shield Blair from everything, much as he wished he could. So instead he focused himself on deflecting the death-rays that were being shot his way.

"Lily, Rufus, Cyrus. Vanessa" He opened his mouth to finish greeting the other occupants of the room but instead he found himself staggering backwards under the weight of a second person. He could vaguely make out the scent of perfume and flowers through the thick mane of blonde hair that was now pressed into his face as Serena buried her head in his shoulder and hugged him fiercely. When finally he pried her off him, a wry smirk tugged at his lips. "Serena."

Serena had tears in her eyes as she embraced him again, this time thankfully allowing him more room to breath. He nodded to both Eric and who he assumed to be Serena's husband over her shoulder. They both smiled back warmly, but he noticed that Eric's smile was more like a grimace as now almost all eyes were fixated on him as Chuck was currently incapacitated with an armful of blond exuberance.

"God I've missed you," Serena said, her voice muffled by the fabric of his jacket.

He had just opened his mouth to reply when suddenly she pulled away, her expression fierce and hard.

"Chuck. Basstard. Where. The. Hell. Have. You. Been!" Each word was punctuated with a punch or a slap on his person. He could only gape in shock as Serena continued hitting him with her tiny fists. "Why. Didn't. You. Call!"

Before he could even consider forming an adequate response he was accosted yet again.

"Ten. YEARS. Chuck. Ten. Whole. Years. What. Were you. Thinking!" She ground out. "Answer. Me!"

Chuck finally grabbed her arms and looked at her with an annoyed frown. "How do you expect me to answer if you keep hitting me!"

Serena glared at him and pulled her hands from his roughly, but grudgingly folded them across her stomach.

"Thank you," Chuck said, still looking annoyed, "now if you're done channeling _Blair_-"

"Start talking," Rufus told him, eying him balefully.

Looking towards the balcony door, Chuck reluctantly acknowledged that he was on his own. For the time being at least. "Where do you want me to start?" He asked in resignation. _This should be good, _he thought.

"How about what on earth possessed you to disappear without any warning ten years ago and to take my daughter with you?" Eleanor said harshly.

_An easy question in her mind, no doubt_. "I was sick of having to cope with everything in New York, and I knew that Blair would never have forgiven me if I had just upped and left again so-"

"You decided to coerce her into coming with you." Eleanor finished for him.

"Blair left of her own free will." Chuck reminded her. "I didn't force her."

She sneered at him, "But you knew that if you played up the woe and tragedy that she'd drop everything if only to make sure you didn't off yourself or do something equally as foolish."

Chuck couldn't deny it; it was probably true. Even if Blair hadn't wanted to come with him, she would have persuaded herself that it was her duty to go even if it was just to protect him. But she had come. And more importantly, she hadn't ever brought up the possibility of them returning home even after he'd sorted his head out once and for all. She had stayed because she loved him, and because it was where she wanted to be. "If that was the case, she would have come home years ago."

Eleanor sniffed, "How do I know you didn't force her into staying with you? You probably brainwashed her."

It took everything in his power not to snort. He knew where Blair had gotten her flair for her melodrama, that was sure. "If you thought that then you would have had us tracked down years ago. Why didn't you, by the way?" That had always bugged him, Lily and Eleanor were two of the wealthiest women in New York. If they had wanted to find Blair, really _find_ her, it should have been no problem for them.

Eleanor glared at Serena and Eric and then at the glass door accusingly.

"At first we thought it was just the two of you trying to make a point." Lily spoke for the first time, her eyes were more probing then angry and he could see that there were unshed tears in her eyes. "Then as the weeks rolled by, and still no sign of either of the two of you, we decided to try and track you down. You had made yourself a separate account in your name only, accessible only once you'd turned eighteen. Your birthday is in May. The two of you left in the middle of April. We didn't start looking until after your birthday had already past."

Chuck looked at his feet. His plan had worked.

"The account was untraceable," Lily continued, as if reciting from an invisible script. "The bank was unwilling to give any details, no matter how much money we offered them."

"You must have bought off a lot of people," Vanessa muttered from where she stood, one hand on her hip, as she strained to peer past the glass and out onto the unlit balcony.

He didn't deny it. Lily went on.

"The police refused to get involved, as far as they were concerned you were both of age and it was clear from Blair's goodbye to Serena that it was both consensual. Our only option was to hire P.I.s. But they never found anything, no matter how many they hired or how much we payed them, they either wouldn't, or couldn't, disclose any new information. By this time It was early September. We were just about to hop on a plane and start searching for you ourselves when the first of the postcards came..."

* * *

_Dear Everyone,_

_We know you must be worried, and we're sorry for that. We're okay, and we're safe. But we're not coming back home, for the foreseeable future anyway. We've decided to settle down and start a life together somewhere away from New York and the pressures that it brings. No, we have not eloped. (and I'm not pregnant either!) This isn't about that. This is about us starting anew, being whoever we want to be with no inhibitions._

_We don't know where we're going to live yet, or even on which continent. And even if we did, we wouldn't tell you. We need to be alone for a while. We need to figure out who we are, away from everything and everyone._

_Please don't try and look for us, we'll come home when we're ready. We'll make sure to keep in touch too. _

_We love you all, and we miss you._

_Love always,_

_Blair and Chuck _

_XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

_

"...after that we knew that you were safe and you were happy. That's all we really wanted. So we decided to let you go, and hope that you came back to us one day." Lily said, ignoring Eleanor's derisive huff.

"We were not expecting it to be ten years later, however." Rufus Humphrey was still glaring daggers at him.

"I can't exactly say that it was in ours either," Chuck replied coolly. "After we had been gone a certain time, it just became easier to stay away."

"Well so long as it was easy for you, I guess that makes it okay then." Rufus said sardonically. "Never mind the worry and the pain that you and Blair put everyone through."

"We're sorry for that. But we couldn't see any other way to avoid it at the time." Chuck ground out.

"What I'd like to know is how long Eric has known about your whereabouts." Eleanor inserted herself into the conversation again, effectively breaking off the staring match between Rufus and Chuck. "I mean obviously you have been in contact with him, otherwise he would have never have known to host this party and to make sure that everyone is here." She looked at Eric angrily, "So how long?"

"Yes Eric," Serena agreed snippily, "do tell."

Eric shuffled nervously, "Since a few months after they'd left."

Lily gasped and looked at her son in shock.

"And you never said anything?" Cyrus' eyes were wide and disbelieving.

Chuck stepped in before anybody else could speak. "Don't blame him. We asked him not to tell." Eric shot him a grateful look.

"How was it that he managed to find you?" Vanessa asked, looking at Eric curiously. "I mean if everyone else failed..."

"It helps if you know where to look," Eric said quietly, "and who to call."

Silence fell. Everybody was staring at everybody, either accusingly, hurtfully, or disappointedly.

Michael cleared his throat and suggested that they retire to the dining room and eat before the food got any colder. Serena volunteered to get Nate and Blair as Michael led Chuck to the kitchen in search of alcoholic beverages. They were going to need them.

* * *

Dinner was a silent affair between almost all. Almost everybody was sneaking furtive glances at both Blair and Chuck. Blair and Nate were exchanging tentative smiles whenever their eyes crossed paths, as Vanessa eyed the two warily. Eric and Serena were occupied with glaring at each other angrily. Cyrus was not so subtly attempting to calm Eleanor down, and Rufus was comforting the still forlorn and tearful Lily as best he could. Chuck got the feeling that Lily was feeling very guilty. She had most likely blamed herself for his disappearance for all these years. He didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts however, as Michael was quick to commandeer his attention and to occupy him in conversation for most of the meal.

After they had finished eating, nobody was quick to suggest that they linger any longer. Eleanor had slipped out to make a phone call midway through the meal, and her phone had been buzzing ever since though she ignored the caller.

"We should get going," Serena decided, eyes falling on Chuck and Blair. "I'll see you both tomorrow?"

They glanced at each other, and Blair nodded. "I'll call you."

Serena seemed satisfied with the promise and ushered her husband out of the door, barely stopping to say her goodbyes to anyone other then her mother.

"We should go too," Rufus said, he took Lily's hand in his. "We'll be seeing you."

They left without another word, though Lily cast fleeting and sorrow-filled glances towards the two men whom she considered to be her sons. Eleanor and Cyrus also got to their feet, as did Nate and Vanessa. The latter just nodded and left, while the former seemed reluctant to leave.

Cyrus quickly captured Blair in his arms, and it was with rare soberness that he whispered in her ear. "She's happy you're back. We both are. Just give her time."

Blair nodded into his shoulder and quickly wiped a stray tear from her eye as he pulled away. Cyrus nodded to both Chuck and Eric and waited for the elevator to return to their floor.

Eleanor paused before she entered the elevator and looked back at Blair. "Your father is catching the first flight in from Paris tonight. You'll join us for dinner tomorrow. Six thirty. Don't be late."

Blair nodded, a small smile on her face. Eleanor didn't return the smile, but her face softened slightly. Blair took it as a good sign.

After everyone had left, Chuck and Blair didn't stay long. Blair hugged Eric tightly and promised to call him in the morning and Chuck clapped him on the back fondly. Together they entered the elevator and watched as the doors closed. Neither of them spoke, but Blair's hand found Chuck's and he squeezed back in return.

* * *

The first thing Chuck did as entered their suite was to unbutton his coat and drape it across a chair before dropping onto the sofa and breathing a sigh of relief. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I think that they understood our reasoning for the most part, even if they don't agree with it. How did things go with Nate?"

Blair didn't reply as she shut the door silently behind her. Discarding her jacket carelessly she strode forward and captured his lips in hers. His eyes widened in shock as her fingers deftly undid his tie and started working on unbuttoning his shirt. He pulled away from her and held her waist, stopping her from straddling him any further. "Blair. What are you doing?" He asked hoarsely.

Blair shook her head and stood up straight, trying to quench the hundreds of thoughts that were running through her head. "I need you Chuck," she whispered, slowly beginning to unzip her dress. "I need you to hold me and to make everything better. I need you to _love me_." She stepped out of the dress and kicked off her heels. "Tonight it's just Blair and Chuck, Chuck and Blair. No Nate, no Serena, no Lily and Eleanor. No sickness, no 'what-ifs', no complications. No LA, no New York. Just us."

He nodded and swallowed thickly as he released his grip on her waist. He pulled her closer and kissed her lips softly before moving slowly down to her neck and throat.

No one else mattered apart from them. They were the only two in the world. Just them. The way it was meant to be.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

**A/N - this chapter's out a bit faster then usual. I'm going to try and update sooner too, as a lot of you have shown annoyance to my admittedly very slow updates ;p I know I promised more Blair/Chuckut this chapter was longer then I expected and the end scene just seemed better without any expanding on it, no? Next chapter will definitely consist of mostly Blair and Chuck. They have to discard a lot of their complacency with their relationship, and that's what I'll be going for in the next few updates.**

**You're probably wondering how it was that Nate and Eric managed to find Chuck and Blair but everyone else could not? Don't worry, that will definitely be explained more in later chapters. There's a lot more going on then you think. For now though, just keep in mind that Eric, Serena and Nate know Chuck and Blair better then anybody else - including Eleanor and Lily and Harold. Sad, but true. They'd have a much smaller field to work with then the other's would have which is how Nate and Eric discovered their whereabouts. You'll find out why any of them didn't volunteer that information at the start of teh search too.**

**Just bare with me here, all will be revealed soon =)**

**Thanks to all who reviewed, and a special thanks to all my anon. reviewers since I can't thank you via PM. I really appreciate all feedback.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

"Why do I get the feeling that it's different this time?" Chuck asked, brushing a stray curl from off of Blair's face as they both watched the sunlight creep in from the open window.

Blair smiled slightly and turned her gaze to meet his. "Maybe because neither of us were drunk or jealous or angry like we usually are whenever we sleep together. Or maybe because we're back where it all started. Old feelings resurfacing."

"Is that why you kissed me last night?" Chuck said quietly, "Because you were caught up in memories of how things used to be?"

Blair shook her head. "No."

"Then why?"

"It just felt... right." Blair struggled to explain how she felt. "You and I together... like it's how it's meant to be."

Chuck didn't answer, he just pulled her closer and wrapped the blankets around them tighter closing his eyes.

"We need to talk about this Chuck." Blair said. "We can't keep avoiding the issue."

He pretended that he was already asleep, but he had one eye slightly open as he heard her sigh at his avoidance before closing her own eyes and trying to drift off again.

* * *

"Nate knew where we were," Blair piped up suddenly as she ate a mouthful of pancake.

Chuck nearly choked on his French toast. "What? He couldn't have."

"Well he did. He managed to track us down to Berkeley during Sophomore year." Blair stated. "He said that he got as far as the grounds before turning around and going back home."

"Why wouldn't he stay to talk to us?" Chuck asked. "I mean if he's still furious after he's had ten years to get used to the idea, imagine what he was like after having only eighteen months. I'd hazard a guess that he had quite a lot he wanted to say."

Blair swirled her fork around in her leftover maple syrup. "He said that he didn't want to drag us back into the drama when he could see that we were so happy away from it all."

"If he could see that we were happier and better off in California why is he still being a bitch about us leaving?" Chuck asked irritably.

"He has a right to be mad Chuck," Blair reminded him. "We left without saying goodbye. I mean Nate and I were together, imagine what it must have been like for him. His best friend and his girlfriend bailing on him without warning. Finding out that I said my goodbyes to Serena and only left a message with her to pass on to him. Not to mention that almost all of our contact in the past few years has been through Serena – a line at the end of a letter sending him our love? God, Chuck, he was one of our best friends and in his eyes it seems that we barely even gave him a second thought."

"Just because Nathaniel suddenly decided that he cared after he realized that with us gone he might actually have to think for himself, it doesn't mean he's some great victim."

Blair's face softened and she grabbed his hand. "Chuck, I get that you're still angry with him. He was your best friend and he wasn't there for you when you needed him most."

Chuck glared at her, "You're right. He wasn't." He sighed, "Look Blair, Nathaniel was my very best friend. For a long time he was the only person I ever cared about. And then you came along and made everything change. Me and you... Nate's reaction, and all of the stuff in-between – I realized that our friendship was so one-sided it was almost comical."

"I know that Nate was never the best at showing that he cared," Blair said carefully, "and that he could be selfish at times – I should know, I dated him for ten years – but the point is, he _did_ love you. And you loved him. Doesn't that count for something?"

Chuck shook his head bitterly. "If he loved me so much then why did he take Dan Humphrey's side over mine without even waiting for an explanation? Where was he when I had just found out that my father had died and was racing towards the hospital? When I disappeared after the funeral, was he the one that organized a search party and tracked me down? Or after that, when Jack was manipulating me into partying and drinking, did he knock on my door and tell me what an asshole I was being? If he _loved_ me so much, why the hell did he go after the girl that he knew I was in love with?"

Blair didn't say anything. He took her silence as his answer.

"No. I didn't think so." Chuck spat, "But I was there for _him_. I sold Victrola to help his family, I saved him from being taped naked to a flagpole by the Skull and Bones, I helped him with his father, and I _stepped aside_ because I thought that the two of you would be happier together."

Blair looked him in the eye. "So you're the hero and he's the villain?"

"That's not what I'm saying and you know it. In his eyes I was probably just as bad to him. I manipulated our friendship for my own gain often enough, and I spent entirely too much time leading him astray. I'll admit it, I wasn't winning any prizes for BFF of the years either." Chuck said levelly, he ran his fingers through his hair and groaned. "Look , I don't want to argue about this Blair, it's not worth it."

"He's your best friend, and you love him." Blair told him shortly, "It's worth it. You two just need to get over yourselves and work it out."

Chuck looked at his feet, "Have you stopped to consider that maybe I don't want to work it out?" He asked her quietly. "That maybe I'm done with all of that?"

"You don't mean that."

"Yes I do." He said firmly. "Waldorf, when are you going to realize that the only reason that I'm back here is because I know that you still love Nate and Serena and your parents? If it wasn't for you, I'd have turned down the deal and somehow managed to win CEO another way. If I had it my way, I wouldn't have set foot on the Upper East Side again in my life."

"You don't mean that!" Blair insisted.

"When I left here ten years ago I was done, Blair. With all of it. With Nate and Serena and Lily... I was done with all of the people who only called me when they wanted my help. I was sick of feeling like everybody that _I_ cared about only stuck by me through obligation. I was tired of being Chuck Bass, and everything that went with it. Including my so-called family." He tilted her chin upwards so that her eyes connected with his. "If you hadn't come with me that night Blair, I wouldn't have ever contacted anyone of them ever again. The only reason that I have is because I knew that you wouldn't be happy if they weren't a part of your life – no matter how small a part that was."

"You always get me to sign your name," Blair whispered. "On postcards, on Christmas and birthday gifts... it's always me who tacks your love on at the end."

"If we left here tomorrow morning knowing that I'd never see anyone of these people aside from you and Eric ever again I'd sleep easy in my bed tonight." Chuck told her sincerely.

"You really don't care about them?" Blair asked.

Chuck sighed, "I care about them Blair. If anything ever happened to them then I'd be upset. I grew up with Nate and Serena and Lily was my step-mother – of course I _care._ I'm not heartless. I love them. After everything it's impossible for me to not. But I –"

"You don't want to get to know your niece, or to talk business with your new brother-in-law. You have your life, they have theirs." Blair finished for him, tone flat and empty. "You're done."

"You and Eric," Chuck repeated. "That's all I need."

"What makes us different Chuck? Why Eric and I? What makes us special? How do I know for sure that one day I won't wake up in the morning to find you gone, just because I said or did something stupid?"

"That's different and you know it."

"Is it? You claim to love Serena and Nate, but apparently you can leave them. What makes me different from them?" Blair asked harshly.

"Because I can live without them but I can't live without you!" Chuck said angrily. "Blair why are you doing this? I'm here aren't I? I'm playing nice with all of them. Isn't this what you want?"

"No! What I want is for us all to go back to the way things were. The Non-Judging-Breakfast-Club, remember?"

He scoffed. "That never existed in the first place. Wake up Waldorf! Open your eyes – we have been gone for _ten years_. What part of that don't you get? Things can't just go back to the way they were, and honestly, I don't think that you want them to. Overshadowed by Serena? Unloved by Nate? Jealous and bitter because your parents care more about their own happiness then they do yours? Do you actually want that again Blair?"

"Of course I don't!" She yelled back.

"Then why are you pushing for these great family reunions? You know that it's not going to last. You, me, Nate and Serena? Be real. Even if we had stayed in the city, gone to college as planned; you and Nate would have still broken up, and Serena would have done something to you – said something really awful in the heat of the moment and the two of you would have parted ways. And with her at Brown, Nate at Columbia and you at NYU you wouldn't have seen each other every day to motivate you enough to try and bridge the gap. Face it Blair, our leaving wasn't the reason that those friendships disintegrated. It just made the process happen that much faster."

Both of them were breathing heavily and silent tears ran streaks down Blair's face.

"Maybe you're right," Blair said finally. "If we had stayed Serena and I probably wouldn't be friends, and Nate and I would have eventually broken up and gone our separate ways. But we didn't stay; we left. And it's been ten years. We've all grown up. Things wouldn't be the same. _We're_ not the same. But if there's a chance that I can have Serena and Nate and my parents in my life again without that compromising who I am as a person, then I'm going to take it."

"And when we leave again after we get the commission?" He asked. "What happens then?"

"Then they come down at Christmas or for Thanksgiving, and we holiday here during the summer." She shrugged simply. "I want them in my life again Chuck, I'm tired of having to choose between you and them." She stood up and began to walk away, but he called her back.

"And if it did come to a choice?"

"I'd choose you." She told him evenly. "But I don't think that I'd ever forgive you for it."

He watched as she exited the suite with her coat and her purse in hand. He looked down at his plate and his half-finished pancakes before snarling and pushing the plate away. He stormed over to the bar and grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass. He downed a full glass in one mouthful and reached for his phone as he poured another. "Bro? Feel like getting wasted?"

* * *

"I can not believe that I let you persuade me to get drunk this early in the morning." Eric hiccuped.

"It's past one o' clock," Chuck drawled, taking another swig of his scotch. "It's afternoon now as of an hour ago."

Eric rolled his eyes, "Whatever. It's still too early." He pushed away his glass decisively.

"Don't consider it as getting drunk then, consider it as spending time with your favorite brother." Chuck refilled the glass, ignorant to Eric's half-hearted protests, and pushed it back to him. "Correction, _one _of your favorite brothers. You have three now. Technically."

"You were right the first time." He muttered.

Chuck raised an eyebrow, "Things still weird between you and Scott?"

Eric laughed sourly, "Only slightly. It's as if he knows that I already _have_ a brother and I won't accept substitutes so he doesn't even bother trying anymore."

"Hmm," Chuck mused, "I live thousands of miles away, and still I manage to make a complete stranger feel insecure. Nice to know that I haven't lost my touch."

"He resents you of course," Eric continued. "Somehow he's always in the room whenever Serena starts a trip down memory lane. I can practically see his teeth clenching every time Jenny laughs about her and Blair's constant struggle for power and how Blair always came out on top, or whenever Mom smiles a little too wistfully whenever your name is mentioned. The others, they don't even get that they're doing it. Nobody but Rufus and I can see that Scott actually begrudges you your post in the family."

"I bet Rufus just loves that because of me his son feels left out." Chuck said sardonically.

"He doesn't do somersaults anyway, that's for sure. Truthfully, I think he's the only one that really embraced Scott into the family. Serena and Dan don't realize it, but they're ever-so-slightly bitter that Scott exists in the first place. In their eyes, he was the final straw that really broke them up for good. Jenny wasn't exactly thrilled to have a new guy show up in her life claiming to be her brother either, she got used to the idea after a while but things are still awkward between them." Eric paused.

"And as for Mom... Scott basically dropped in unexpectedly a few days after she had just given up on you. I think that in her eyes, by really opening herself up to him that she was betraying you somehow. She felt guilty to have him in her life, but then happy at the same time. For a long time she blew hot and cold with him, before eventually she settled somewhere in between."

Chuck nodded, "And Humphrey? What about him? Does he qualify as family?"

"He's just Dan." Eric said simply. "The same as he always was. After Lily and Rufus first got married Serena banned me from using the term sibling, or even step-sibling in reference to either him or Jenny. I don't blame her either, I mean she was dating him one minute, the next thing their parents are married and they share a sibling? I don't think she could have coped calling him brother."

Chuck and Eric both drank in silence for a while longer before Eric finally asked the question that was bugging him. "So what was the fight about?"

"Blair's all for playing happy families and reconnecting with everyone. I'm not." Chuck said shortly.

Eric nodded in understanding, "I don't really blame you." He said honestly. "I'd probably feel the same if it were me."

Chuck scowled, "Be grateful it's not."

Eric studied him closely, "And that's all that happened?" He asked casually, "Nothing else?"

His not-so-subtle prying was rewarded as expected;

"If I wanted to bitch about my innermost thoughts and feelings I would have called Serena. Now drink up, and shut up."

Eric rolled his eyes but did as told. Chuck would realize that he needed Nate and Serena soon enough, and until then he was more then happy to play mediator between him and Blair. Especially if it meant that his brother was back in his life permanently.

* * *

Blair smiled as Tori immediately ran to play on the jungle gym. Tori was just like Serena at age five – brave and flighty. She had taken to her 'Auntie Blair' very easily too. Blair was given a play-by-play of the girl's day at school, followed by Tori's strong desire to feed the ducks at Central Park because her mommy had told her that it was 'Auntie Blair's favorite place in the whole-wide-world'. Blair found it impossible not to acquiesce to her request, and the two ganged up on Serena mercilessly until she too had agreed. Now, three ice-creams and a loaf of bread later, they had decided to make one final stop at Tori's favorite place; the playground.

Making sure to wave and smile reassuringly at the precocious five-year-old every so often, Blair and Serena settled on one of the empty benches and began to catch up properly. They moved through such mundane topics such as work and old friends quickly, and they sat in a companionable silence for a few minutes before Serena ultimately broke it.

"Blair," Serena said slightly hesitantly as she played with the straps on Tori's schoolbag. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Blair teased, before looking at her oldest friend knowingly. "You want to know about me and Chuck."

Serena nodded, biting her lip.

"Well we're not together, as you've probably gathered by now. But we're not exactly apart either. It's... complicated."

"It always was with you two."

"You remember how we were freshman year? Things were so easy back then. I had you and Nate, and Chuck and I were pretty close too We always hung out when you and Nate were busy. Then after you left and Nate began to grow distant... we got closer. I was finally Queen in your absence, and Chuck helped me realize my full bitchy potential. He was my best friend for a while." Blair smiled. "Then after the disaster that was our relationship in Junior and Senior year... I thought that once we'd left New York and everyone else in it that it would be perfect, you know? That we'd be together forever and no one was ever going to split us up. Pity life doesn't work like that."

"What happened?"

Blair sighed, "We got to Berkeley and it _was_ perfect. We lived together after that first year, we took most of the same classes, we had the same group of friends... We were so happy and in love. But, midway through our Junior year, we realized that we were too reliant on each other. It's like we were scared to do anything without the other at our side. We needed a break, to sort out our heads and date other people for a while so that when we did get back together it would be for good. We would be ready for the next chapter in our lives."

"So you broke up?"

"Kind of." Blair sighed, "We were still in love – we couldn't just shut that off. But yeah, essentially we broke up. He went back to sleeping around and I tried to get involved with other guys but..." She shook her head with a wry smirk, "Chuck was it for me. I realized that a few months later but by then Chuck had gotten used to the idea of our just being friends – he had even stopped threatening to dismember every guy who asked me out. So I put off telling him until we were nearing graduation and the end of Senior year. I was just planning what to say to him when all of a sudden he comes storming in and kisses me and of course one thing led to another..." She grinned as Serena made a face. "Anyway, after that we both decided to wait until after graduation and make a fresh start."

Serena winced, "Why do I sense a but coming here?"

Blair stared out onto the kids in the playground, watching as they stumbled through the grass playing hide and seek and as Tori scaled the jungle gym while her friends cheered her on. "I got sick S." She said almost to herself. "Cancer. It was treatable – thank God. They caught it early. But it took a hell of a lot out of me."

"Oh my God." Serena whispered, she grabbed Blair's hand and squeezed tightly as tears came to both girls' eyes.

"I wasn't even twenty-three. I had my whole life ahead of me. For a while I honestly thought that I was going to die." Blair said hoarsely, remembering. "But Chuck – he was there for me through everything. Every appointment, every chemo or radiation session, he was at my side and holding my hand. I know that it killed him, seeing me like that, knowing that there was nothing he could do to help. Even with all of his millions he was powerless to stop this thing that was growing inside me and taking me over."

"But you got through it, right?" Serena asked, her voice breaking. "You're better now?"

"I've been in remission for the past four years." Blair told her. "It means that the cancer might come back, or it might not. They don't know. I've been going to appointments and check-ups every few months to make sure that everything is as it should be. My last appointment was supposed to be last week but I didn't go."

"Why not?" Serena asked, furiously wiping away her tears and attempting to wave brightly at Tori who was standing proudly atop the jungle gym. The second that Tori turned away again, her face fell and she turned back to Blair.

"Because that was going to be my last appointment. It's been four years. If everything turns out to be normal in this last check-up, then I'll be officially in the clear. I'll have beaten this thing for good. After all the pain, and the hurt and the tears, I'll have won. Really and truly _won_."

"Blair that's great!" Serena cried, hugging her best friend. "Why on earth didn't you go?"

Blair returned the hug stiffly, still caught up in her own thoughts. "Because everything will be different after that. I can finally move on from that part of my life."

Serena pulled away, her confusion masking her obvious relief. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"I slept with Chuck last night."

"What?"

"Chuck and I slept together. It's happened before of course, many times in the past four years. But last night it was different. It felt right. Like everything was coming full circle. We're meant to be together S. We always have been."

Serena accepted the change in conversation, though she was still confused. "Did you tell him that?"

"Yeah," She nodded. "And he feels the same. I know he does. Even if he's too scared to admit it."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Our relationship was basically put on hold for eighteen months as I was fighting the cancer and after that... At first it was because he was scared. He'd almost lost me once before, and he wasn't going to risk putting me through the stress and pain of a new relationship as I was recuperating. So he insisted that we remain friends, for a while at least. Then as time went on and we grew comfortable with our relationship, there seemed no need for it to really change. We knew that we still loved each other and that we always would – and it was enough." Blair sighed.

"And there was the threat of the cancer still hanging over our heads, ready to come back at any time. It was just another excuse for us to not be together, and because we were both terrified of ruining what we had worked so hard to build we latched on to it. But now that I might be in the clear, and with us sleeping together last night..."

"You're worried that there'll be no more reasons for you and Chuck to be together and you'll actually have to confront what you're feeling." Serena finished quietly.

"It will be the start of something, and it will be the end." Blair quoted dully. "Except that we have waited, and this _is_ the future. We can't put it off any longer."

"Oh, B." Serena wrapped her arms around her again and this time Blair returned the embrace. "I know you're afraid, but this is something that you and Chuck have to do. You two belong together, I knew that back in Senior year, and even though I've never even been in the same room as you two together for more then five minutes – I know that now." She hugged her tightly, "He loves you so much Blair. He'd do anything for you." There was a tinge of sadness to her voice as she continued, watching Tori laugh at something her friend said over Blair's shoulder. "Not everyone's that lucky."

* * *

**Disclaimer: Don't own. **

**A/N - I know, I know. Late as per usual. Writer's block is a bitch. But it's out now, and I've already started on the next chapter. Chuck's anger toward Nate and everyone may seem a little off, but think about it, was anyone other then Blair really there for him? I mean Serena really pissed me off at the funeral when she insisted Dan stay, and the next thing you know she's in Buenos Aires with Aaron? Never mind that her brother has just disappeared off of the face of the earth. And even when Chuck does come back, she just shrugs it off and accepts that he's back to normal.**** Same with Lily, she was totally selfish when she flaunted her relationship with Rufus in everyone's faces so soon after her husband had just died. I know she tried to mend the gap between her and Chuck, but I honestly don't think that she did enough.  
**

**Likewise with Nate, he was there for the funeral, but he wasn't exactly overexerting himself looking for Chuck when he disappeared. And he was there for the reading of the will, but only briefly. I think that he and Chuck's relationship has been like that for the whole of the second season and it really annoys me because they're supposed to be best friends. Blair and Serena may have their faults, but at least they spend time together so that we can actually see how they interact. And then the whole Nate/Blair thing, I didn't really mind that they got together, it's that Nate never even mentioned it to Chuck that gets me. He had to find out on Gossip Girl. I know that Chuck slept with Vanessa too, so he's not exactly innocent either. But an eye for an eye and all that.  
**

** Chuck may seem harsh here but a lot of it is just a front for the hurt that he feels toward the people who were supposed to love him and look after him. And in reality, the only people who even tried were Eric and Blair and he pushed both away.**

**Anyways, rambling over, thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, I really appreciate it. R&R  
~Roo**


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